2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état

==Background==
===Early October===
[[File:Grace Mugabe with Robert Mugabe 2013-08-04 11-53.jpeg|thumb|right|upright=1.13|[[Robert Mugabe]] and [[Grace Mugabe]] in 2013]]
On the second week of October 2017, tensions between Vice-President [[Emmerson Mnangagwa]] and [[Grace Mugabe]], two leading figures to replace the 93-year-old [[Robert Mugabe]] as [[President of Zimbabwe]], were prominently displayed in the public sphere.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41530924|title=Grace Mugabe warns of coup plot|date=6 October 2017|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=14 November 2017|others=Additional political analysis by Shingai Nyoka of BBC News Harare|language=en-GB|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115143419/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41530924|url-status=live}}</ref> Mnangagwa, a protégé of Mugabe's who had been his ally since the [[Rhodesian Bush War|Zimbabwe War of Independence]] in the 1960s,<ref name=":1" /> said that doctors had confirmed that he had been poisoned during an August 2017 political rally led by the president and had to be airlifted to a hospital in South Africa for treatment.<ref name=":2" /> He also pledged his loyalty to the [[ZANU–PF]] party and President Mugabe and said that the story spread by his supporters that Grace Mugabe had ordered the poisoning via a dairy farm she controlled was untrue.<ref name=":2" />

Grace Mugabe denied the poisoning claims as ridiculous and rhetorically asked: "Who is Mnangagwa, who is he?"<ref name=":2" /> [[Phelekezela Mphoko]], Zimbabwe's other vice-president, publicly criticised Mnangagwa, saying that his comments about the August incident were part of an attempt to destabilise the country and undermine the authority of the president, since doctors had actually concluded that stale food was to blame.<ref name=":2" />

===4 October===

During a planned speech in Harare, Grace Mugabe went off-script to attack Mnangagwa, saying that her supporters were constantly receiving threats that if Mnangagwa did not succeed Mugabe, they would be assassinated and that the faction backing Mnangagwa was plotting a coup d'état.<ref name=":2" />

At a rally, President Mugabe publicly rebuked the and Mnangagwa for the first time. At the same rally, Grace Mugabe called him a "coup plotter" and a "coward".<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-07/robert-mugabe-sacks-vp-seen-as-top-succession-candidate/9125040|title=Mugabe fires 'disloyal, deceitful' vice president, removing succession favourite|date=6 November 2017|work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|access-date=14 November 2017|agency=[[Reuters]]|language=en-AU|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115105634/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-07/robert-mugabe-sacks-vp-seen-as-top-succession-candidate/9125040|url-status=live}}</ref> The president fired Mnangagwa on 6 November.<ref name=":1" /> A statement from Information Minister [[Simon Khaya-Moyo]] said that Mnangagwa had "consistently and persistently exhibited traits of disloyalty, disrespect, deceitfulness and unreliability".<ref name=":1" />

Mnangagwa's dismissal essentially left Grace Mugabe, supported by her [[Generation 40]] (G40) faction of younger ZANU–PF officials, as the only major contender to succeed Robert Mugabe.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /> Mnangagwa, one of Mugabe's last political allies who had stayed with him since independence in 1980, had the support of several generals in the Zimbabwean army, who had publicly stated that only a veteran of the war for independence – which would rule out Grace Mugabe – should rule the country.<ref name=":1" /> Although Mugabe had depended on support from the military to maintain his rule, in the last few years he had undertaken a systematic replacement of old veterans from the war of independence in important ZANU–PF party positions with younger officials who did not fight in the war.<ref name=":4" /> This move was seen as risky because Grace Mugabe was a [[Grace Mugabe#Controversies|divisive figure in Zimbabwe]] and did not have much support from important ZANU–PF officials from the liberation war era or in the South African region.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/15/mugabe-family-military-takes-control-zimbabwe-mnangagwa|title=Robert Mugabe in detention after military takes control of Zimbabwe|last=Burke|first=Jason|date=15 November 2017|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=15 November 2017|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115103403/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/15/mugabe-family-military-takes-control-zimbabwe-mnangagwa|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/14/africa/zimbabwe-military-chief-treasonable-conduct/index.html|title=Zimbabwe army denies military takeover in live address on state TV|last1=McKenzie|first1=David|date=15 November 2017|publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=15 November 2017|last2=Swails|first2=Brent|last3=Berlinger|first3=Joshua|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115042820/http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/14/africa/zimbabwe-military-chief-treasonable-conduct/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 8–12 November ===

On 8 November 2017, Mnangagwa fled to Mozambique and then South Africa to escape "incessant threats" against his family.<ref name="nytimes1119"/><ref name="bloomberg_flees">{{cite news|last1=Kumbuka|first1=Desmond|last2=Marawanyika|first2=Godfrey|last3=Latham|first3=Brian|title=Zimbabwe's Ousted Vice President Flees After Death Threats|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-08/mugabe-guts-zimbabwe-security-state-with-deputy-s-dismissal|access-date=18 November 2017|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|date=8 November 2017|archive-date=10 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110005428/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-08/mugabe-guts-zimbabwe-security-state-with-deputy-s-dismissal|url-status=live}}</ref> Mnangagwa issued a statement saying that he did not plan to harm Mugabe.<ref name="bloomberg_flees"/> He told Mugabe, "You and your cohorts will instead leave ZANU–PF by the will of the people and this we will do in the coming few weeks."<ref name="bloomberg_flees"/> Mnangagwa vowed to return and called for members of ZANU–PF to abandon the president.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/13/zimbabwe-army-chief-warns-military-could-step-in-over-party-purge|title=Zimbabwe army chief warns military could 'step in' over party purge|date=13 November 2017|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=15 November 2017|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=9 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190309195445/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/13/zimbabwe-army-chief-warns-military-could-step-in-over-party-purge|url-status=live}}</ref> After his exile, more than a hundred of Mnangagwa's alleged senior supporters were targeted for disciplinary sanctions by backers of Grace Mugabe.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/11/14/us-tells-citizens-in-zimbabwe-to-shelter-in-place-as-troops-seen-in-capital.html|title=US tells citizens in Zimbabwe to shelter in place as troops seen in capital|date=14 November 2017|publisher=[[Fox News]]|access-date=15 November 2017|agency=[[Reuters]]|language=en-US|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115025417/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/11/14/us-tells-citizens-in-zimbabwe-to-shelter-in-place-as-troops-seen-in-capital.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

That same day, Christopher Mutsvangwa also left for South Africa, where he warned South African intelligence that a military intervention was about to take place in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Zimbabwean army chief General [[Constantino Chiwenga]] was on an official visit to China, where he met generals [[Chang Wanquan]] and [[Li Zuocheng]]. While in China, General Chiwenga was advised by the military intelligence wing that Mugabe had ordered his arrest upon his return to Zimbabwe on 12 November 2017. Plans had already been put in place through the ZRP Support Unit (A paramilitary wing of the police). Soldiers loyal to Chiwenga, disguised as baggage handlers, overpowered the police at the airport and cleared the way for his arrival.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://news.pindula.co.zw/2017/11/17/zrp-support-unit-attempted-to-arrest-general-chiwenga-when-he-returned-from-china/| title=ZRP Support Unit Attempted to Arrest General Chiwenga when He Returned from China ⋆ Pindula News| date=17 November 2017| access-date=10 January 2019| archive-date=13 January 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113084123/https://news.pindula.co.zw/2017/11/17/zrp-support-unit-attempted-to-arrest-general-chiwenga-when-he-returned-from-china/| url-status=live}}</ref>

===13 November===
Chiwenga called a press conference at the military headquarters where he read a statement saying that the military would intervene if their historical political allies continued to be targeted.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /> He called recent events "treacherous shenanigans" and said that the military "will not hesitate to step in" if that was necessary to protect the Zimbabwean revolution.<ref name=":4" /> Chiwenga urged people to attend the December 2017 ZANU–PF party congress to exercise their democratic rights and that the party had been infiltrated by counter-revolutionaries. He also said that the infighting and purges in ZANU–PF had led to chaos and "no meaningful development in the country for the past five years".<ref name=":7" /> The statement was made with ninety high-ranking officers from important units of the [[Zimbabwe National Army]] present to create an image of army unity. The statement was originally broadcast on [[Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation]], the state broadcaster, but pulled off the air, though there was no initial official government response.<ref name=":4" />