African Union Ambassador on Zim military action, says ‘there was no coup’

Washington DC – An African Union diplomat says that “there was no coup” in Zimbabwe as the military acted within the provisions of the southern African country’s constitution.

According to Voice of America, speaking at a forum ‘Zimbabwe: The Way Forward’ in Washington DC AU diplomat Dr Chihombori Quao said that the military action was justified as it averted a political crisis.

“They acted within the constitution to do that. So, there was no coup but there was a provision within the constitution for the army to do that because of the conditions on the ground at that time and they moved in swiftly according to the constitution and address the issue,” Quao was quoted as saying.

Quao said that AU was proud in how the southern African country handled the recent transfer of power from then president Robert Mugabe to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

This came as some political analyst maintained that the military’s intervention last month was indeed a coup, particularly after it put Mugabe and his wife Grace under house arrest.

Mugabe resigned as president of Zimbabwe on November 21. He had been in power for 37 years.