Mugabe’s ability to last full term in doubt

When Zimbabwe’s veteran president Robert Mugabe suavely hosted journalists at State House on the eve of last month’s election, there was only one question that caught him off guard.

Asked if the presence of defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa by his side meant that he was his chosen successor, Mugabe paused awkwardly amid laughter and then replied that Mnangagwa had just dropped by to see him.

Three weeks after Mugabe’s re-election in a disputed vote called a fraud by his main rival but accepted by his African neighbours, there are no doubts Africa’s oldest leader is holding firmly on to the presidency.