Zimbabwe Election: I’m The Only ‘Acceptable’ Candidate – Mugabe

Agency Report

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, who turns 93 on Tuesday, says he has no “acceptable” successor in place and hence has no plans to step aside.

“The call to step down must come from my party, my party at congress, my party at central committee,” Mugabe said in excerpts from a radio broadcast that will air this week and that were printed in the state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper.

“But then what do you see? It’s the opposite. They want me to stand for elections.”

“The majority of the people feel that there is no replacement, a successor who to them is acceptable, as acceptable as I am,” he added.

Mugabe, who has kept a strong grip on power since the country gained independence in 1980, has severally denied reports of health problems.