On November 15th 2017, Zimbabwe ZANU ruling party in collaboration with the military announced that they had removed longest African serving President Robert Mugabe from office. Less than 4 months later South Africa’s ruling ANC party also announced that they had removed President Jacob Zuma from office on 13th February 2018.
We look at some of the bizarre similarities between the two ill-feted head of states which happened during their peaceful removal from the throne.
- Jacob Zuma was accused of rampant corruption cases among them using illegally state funds to built his own lavish house without paying the money back. For Mugabe also, he was accused of taking state funds to construct a kingly mansion at the expense of Zimbabwe’s tax payers
- Zuma lost power while at his residential house where power removal deal was negotiated, Robert Mugabe in the same breathe lost power at his house where they negotiated how he will hand over power to his close rival Emmerson Mnagangwa
- Ruling political parties were used in their removal from power. ZANU of Zimbabwe in collaboration with the state military ensured that Mugabe was powerless. While in SA , ruling party ANC committee is the one that brokered the deal to strip power from Zuma
- Jacob Zuma’s terms was supposed to expire in 2019, while that of Mugabe was supposed to expire in 2017. The two heads were ousted when they had only just a year left in power.
- The wives of these Presidents had interests in succeeding their husbands as of Grace Mugabe for Zimbabwe and , Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for Zuma
- Another strange fact about these leaders is that their wives worked for the government
- Under Zuma’s watch SA’s economy went on the brink and their Rand went under the carpet. It was the same case with Mugabe who watched as their shilling and economy went onto its knees
- The two leaders were forcefully made to write a resignation letters, because they had no better choice to do otherwise
- SA’s Jacob Zuma was guaranteed a good paycheck before his resignation, while his fellow also Mugabe was promised billions of money before he decided to quit. Even though these deals remains to be one of their top secretes
- Jacob Zuma and Mugabe Robert were among the nationalists who fought in the struggle of independence during the colonial period. Zuma was said to have been a chief spy of ANC during their fight for freedom while Mugabe was one of the top commandos who fought for Zimbabwe’s freedom. At this time it is crucial to mention that the two leaders were imprisoned and send to exile by the rogue colonial white government
The two leaders were great buddies and friendly neighbors who shared a cup of coffee whenever hey wished
