Robert Mugabe no more in battle over Zimbabwe sit of Presidency

 
It was classic Robert Mugabe.

Speaking in front of loyalists this week at his party headquarters in Harare, the 93-year-old leader tapped into his fondness for parables.

"There is no short cut to being the leader of the people," he said. "You should not try to say because the journey is long, then I should take a short cut to arrive quickly. The road has lions. There are pitfalls. There is death."

Mugabe is used to intimidating his rivals; the world's oldest president has been a wily survivor for decades.

But despite the projection of strength in the capital, many Zimbabwe watchers see Mugabe at perhaps his most vulnerable in decades. And that the battle to succeed him is entering a brutal final stage.

Jabbing the 'Crocodile'

For years, the ruling Zanu-PF party has been embroiled in a bitter succession battle that has sometimes spilled out into the open.

But not like this.

On Monday, Mugabe dropped a political bombshell, sacking powerful Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa -- his right-hand man for nearly four decades. 

Mnangagwa, known has "Ngwenya" or the "Crocodile" to many because of his well-honed survival instincts, was with Mugabe from the start: first as his assistant during the liberation struggle, later as his intelligence chief, cabinet minister and all-round enforcer.

In recent months, Zimbabwe's press has reported on increasingly open animosity between the Crocodile and the first lady Grace Mugabe -- another leading candidate to replace Robert Mugabe. Still, it was surprising to many that the president sacked Mnangagwa so close to elections slated for next year.

Mnangagwa has a strong following in Zimbabwe's powerful military and amongst war veterans who fought in the liberation struggle, and has been a key strategist for Mugabe in past elections, says David Coltart, a former cabinet minister and opposition leader.

He says that after decades of discarding allies, Mugabe may have taken a step too far this time.

"Mugabe, for all his faults, has shown amazing political acumen over the years," Coltart says. "But this is a foolish move."

"It is a clear demonstration on who is wearing the trousers -- Grace is. It is a high risk desperate game that she is playing."

A door opens for Grace

The dramatic purge of Mnangagwa opens the door for the First Lady, who will no longer have to contend with her most powerful rival in the race to succeed Robert Mugabe.

"Grace Mugabe without Robert Mugabe will not survive a single day politically. But as long as Mugabe is there, she will do what she wishes," says Alex T. Magaisa, a lecturer at Kent University and former aide to ex-Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Grace Mugabe has never been one for small measures. Born in South Africa, Mugabe's second wife has developed a reputation as a shrewd, if sometimes extravagant, politician in her own right.