Mugabe 'cried when he agreed to resign'

Former Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe cried and lamented "betrayal by his lieutenants" after he agreed to step down under pressure from the military and his party after 37 years in power, a report says.

This is according to Zimbabwe’s Standard newspaper.

The newspaper quoted sources within Mugabe's inner circle as saying the devout Catholic held a rosary as he told his close associates and a team of negotiators at his "Blue House" Harare mansion that he was resigning. He announced the decision as parliament heard a motion to impeach him.

He looked down and said 'people were chameleons', one of the sources was quoted as saying.

The state-owned Sunday Mail quoted Father Fidelis Mukonori, a Jesuit priest who is a close friend to Mugabe and mediated his resignation with the military, as saying Mugabe's face "just glowed" after he signed the resignation letter.

So we are not talking about a bitter man. I told him that it was good for him to see someone running the country..., Mukonori told the Sunday Mail.

He said Mugabe realized it was the end of the road two days before he resigned, when he saw 60,000 Zimbabweans protesting and demanding he quit at the Harare grounds where he was inaugurated as prime minister in 1980. 

Mugabe's fall after 37 years in power was spurred by a battle to succeed him that pitted his former vice, and a loyalist, Mnangagwa, who had stood by him for 52 years, and Mugabe's wife Grace, who is 52.

Following his resignation on Tuesday last week, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was on Friday sworn in as the country's new president.

Sourced from Reuters