Zimbabwe will officially have a new president on Friday

(Image credit: MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 23 November 2017

Emmerson Mnangagwa, who served as Zimbabwe's vice president until ousted leader Robert Mugabe fired him on Nov. 6, will chair his first meeting as head of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party Thursday and will be sworn in as the new president Friday, the speaker of the country's parliament announced Wednesday.

Mnangagwa's firing had triggered the chain of events that led to Mugabe's forced resignation Tuesday. Mnangagwa's ascension marks the country's first transfer of power since independence in 1980.

Mnangagwa returned to Zimbabwe Wednesday, after fleeing for safety, and addressed the public from the ruling party's headquarters. He said the military's intervention was the start of a "new democracy," one that required all Zimbabweans to work together to turn the country around. "We want to grow our economy, we want jobs, jobs, jobs," he said.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Lauren Hansen produces The Weekâ€™s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.