Image source, Reuters

Veritas, a non-governmental organisation which provides legal services to Zimbabweans, has outlined how a president is impeached:

"Under section 97 of the Constitution impeachment is a three-stage process:

1. First, the Senate and the National Assembly must meet in a joint sitting and resolve, by a simple majority of their total membership, that the president should be removed from office on any one or more of four grounds:

a. serious misconduct

b. failure to obey, uphold or defend the Constitution

c. wilful violation of the Constitution

d. inability to perform his duties because of physical or mental incapacity.

[Note: An arguable case could be made for charging President Mugabe with all four grounds]

2. Once a resolution has been passed, Parliament’s Committee on Standing Rules and Orders must appoint a nine-member committee of Senators and members of the National Assembly to investigate the removal of the President.

Although section 97 of the Constitution does not say so, the committee would have to give the President a full opportunity to respond to the allegations against him – he has a right to a fair hearing under section 69 of the Constitution.

3. If the committee recommends that the President should be removed from office, the Senate and National Assembly must meet, again in joint session, to deliberate the recommendation, and if in that joint session they resolve by a two-thirds majority of their total membership to adopt the recommendation then the President immediately ceases to hold office.

Image source, Re

Impeachment is an elaborate process and would take time to complete. How long is difficult to say, because Parliament’s Standing Orders do not specify what notice must be given of impeachment motions, nor how joint sittings of the two Houses are convened - in fact they do not deal with impeachment at all.

In the absence of a laid-down procedure, presumably the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, the Speaker and the staff of Parliament will make it up as they go along. Nonetheless the process would need at least several days to complete bearing in mind that:

An impeachment motion, like all motions, requires at least a day’s notice to be given before it is debated [perhaps Parliament would waive this requirement].

· Detailed grounds of impeachment would have to be prepared.

· A joint sitting would have to be arranged

· An investigation committee would have to be appointed.

· The committee would have to investigate the grounds of impeachment and give the President an opportunity to state his case [and the President would have no incentive to be brief] and to prepare a report to Parliament.

· Another the joint session would have to be convened to consider and vote on the committee’s report.

Image source, AFP

Result of Impeachment

If President Mugabe leaves office through impeachment, a Vice-President takes over as Acting President [paragraph 14(4) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution]. All the Ministers who were appointed by him will stay in office, and so will the one remaining Vice-President, Mr Mphoko.

The fact that he may be outside the country, or in detention, or stripped of his party position and membership does not alter his status as Vice-President.

If Vice-President Mphoko were to resign then there would be no Vice-President, and only a President can appoint another Vice-President.

If there were no Vice-President to act as President, the remaining Cabinet Ministers would have to appoint one of themselves as Acting President in terms of section 100(1)(c) of the Constitution.

Such an Acting President could appoint a Vice-President, but only with the approval of a majority of the Cabinet.

A much simpler option would be if Mr Mugabe were to retire and appoint a new Vice-President before doing so."

Lawmakers in Zimbabwe are expected to meet today to initiate the impeachment of President Robert Mugabe.

There have been varied opinions on how long the process would take.

Tendai Biti, the leader of the opposition People's Democratic Party, has told the BBC's Newsday programme that the impeachment process could be complete in a week.

Listen to his comments below:

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has arrived in Angola's capital, Luanda, for talks with regional leaders on the Zimbabwean crisis, reports the BBC's Mliton Nkosi from Johannesburg.

Civil society groups in Zimbabwe have rejected their intervention, saying most leaders were allied with the embattled President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.

Only Botswana's President Ian Khama has publicly called for Mr Mugabe's resignation, saying presidents were not monarchs.

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe's President Robert is entitled to legal representation during impeachment proceedings, opposition MP Tendai Biti has said, raising doubts about the ruling party's plan to remove him from office by the end of Wednesday.

UK-based Channel 4 News' international editor has tweeted:

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe's sacked Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa has rejected meeting with President Robert Mugabe, despite army chief Gen Constantine Chiwenga saying yesterday that a meeting between the two leaders would take place as part of an agreed road map to resolve the crisis in the southern African state

In a statement, Mr Mnangagwa called on Mr Mugabe to "resign immediately to avoid public humiliation":

The arm chief also said yesterday that Mr Mnangagwa was due to return to the country shortly.

However, the former vice-president said he would not return until his security is guaranteed.

Mr Mugabe sacked Mr Mnangagwa about two weeks, triggering the dramatic developments that led to the military takeover.

Mr Mnangagwa said the current crisis could not be resolved by the two of them but had to involve all Zimbabweans.

Image source, AFP

Like Zimbabwe, neighbouring South Africa urgently needs a change of leader, the parliamentary chief whip of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC), Jackson Mthembu, has said, Reuters news agency reports.

The ANC is due to elect a new party leader at its national conference next month, but President Jacob Zuma - dogged by allegations of corruption and using the intelligence services to target his opponents - is expected to remain as president until the 2019 elections.

In a Reuters interview, Mr Mthembu said that whoever the party chooses next month, the incoming leadership should tell Mr Zuma to step down.

"You can't keep him there," he added.

Mr Mthembu is backing Deputy President Cyril Rampahosa as the next ANC leader while Mr Zuma has thrown his weight behind ex-wife and former African Union Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Read: African dynasties

Zimbabwe's only independent MP, Temba Mliswa, has tweeted that he will hand in his resignation if parliament fails to impeach President Robert Mugabe - the world's oldest ruler, at the age of 93.

He says that the people's call for Mr Mugabe to step down should override the interests of anyone in the ruling Zanu-PF party who feel the veteran leader should stay in office:

A Zimbabwean journalist tweeted yesterday that 230 out of 260 MPs back the impeachment plan:

Zimbabwe's embattled President Robert Mugabe has convened his first cabinet meeting since last week's army takeover, but only a few ministers are said to have attended, a BBC correspondent in the capital, Harare, tweets:

Image source, Reuters

Zimbabwe's war veterans have called for "immediate protests" against President Robert Mugabe to pressure him to step down, the AFP news agency reports.

Zimbabwe War Veterans' Association chairman Chris Mutsvangwa told reporters that people should gather in the capital, Harare, to force Mr Mugabe out of office:

He said people should march to Mr Mugabe's private residence, known as Blue Roof.

The veteran association was a staunch backer of Mr Mugabe but are now allied to sacked Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa whose removal sparked the current crisis.

Meanwhile, MPs from the governing Zanu-PF will meet today to discuss plans to impeach Mr Mugabe after he ignored an ultimatum to resign.

Andrew Harding
BBC News, Harare

Image source, AFP

The man primed to replace Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has launched a bitter attack on the 93 year old, and has urged him to step down.

Emmerson Mnangawa more or less accused President Mugabe of trying to have him killed, and said he would not return to Zimbabwe until he is sure he will be safe.

The statement from the former vice-president gave an extraordinary insight into the vicious power struggles that preceded last week's military intervention.

Mr Mnangagwa said his security guards had warned him of plans to "eliminate" him, after he was sacked earlier this month. He promptly fled to South Africa.

Last night, Zimbabwe's army generals confirmed that President Mugabe and Mr Mnangagwa had spoken by phone and claimed that Mr Mnangagwa had agreed to return home as part of a transitional roadmap.

That roadmap now sounds like wishful thinking, as parliament here prepares to impeach the president, and Mr Mnangawa angrily demands that his former boss respects the will of the people or faces humiliation.

Read: Zimbabwe's next likely leader

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe's former vice-president, whose sacking led to last week's army takeover, has urged President Robert Mugabe to resign immediately.

Emmerson Mnangagwa said he fled abroad two weeks ago when he learned of a plot to kill him, and he would not return until he was sure of his security.

The ruling Zanu-PF party is expected to begin impeachment proceedings in parliament later on Tuesday.

Mr Mugabe is accused of allowing his wife to "usurp constitutional power".

Speaking from an undisclosed location on Tuesday, Mr Mnangagwa said the 93-year-old president should heed the "clarion call" of his people and step down.

In a statement, he said:

Read the full BBC story here

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