Robert Mugabe Is Dismissed By ZANU-PF And Replaced By 'The Crocodile'

Members of the Zanu-PF Central Committee stand during a meeting at the party headquarters in Harare on Sunday, where they discussed removing Mugabe as party leader

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has been formally dismissed as the leader of the country's ruling party, Zanu-PF, and replaced by the vice president he previously sacked, Emmerson 'Crocodile' Mnangagwa.

Zimbabweans carried their country's flag and chanted 'remove the dictator' and 'Mugabe, our country is not your property' as they voiced their demand for him to leave office after 37 years in power

Daily Mail UK report continues:

It followed all ten Zimbabwean provinces passing no-confidence motions against the dictator on Friday.

The development placed Mr Mnangagwa within touching distance of the presidency, delayed only by Mr Mugabe's continued refusal to step down.

There is widespread speculation that Mr Mugabe will officially resign late on Sunday after a crunch meeting with the head of Zimbabwe's armed forces.

He has so far given little sign of capitulating, however, instead resisting the massive pressure from all sides by staging a hunger strike, making threats and refusing to speak at his Blue Roof home.   

The dictator's hated wife, 'Gucci' Grace, has also been expelled from her role as head of the Zanu-PF Women's League. 

Mnangagwa, the former state security chief, is in line to head an interim post-Mugabe unity government that will focus on rebuilding ties with the outside world and stabilizing an economy in freefall.  

While Mugabe has been removed from his role of Zanu-PF party leader, his title as Zimbabwean president remains.

Impeaching the president is the next step when Parliament resumes Tuesday, and lawmakers will 'definitely' put the process in motion, the main opposition's parliamentary chief whip told The Associated Press. 

The frail 93-year-old Mugabe has not accepted any food since Saturday, the source revealed, as he continues to be held under house arrest at his Blue Roof mansion. 

Mugabe's nephew Patrick Zhuwao said on Saturday that Mr Mugabe was 'willing to die for what is correct'. 

A Zanu-PF minister confirmed to MailOnline that Mr Mugabe is also refusing to speak as part of his days-long protest.

'The old man has been trying a lot of various tricks since last night,' the minister, who asked not to be named, said. 'Hunger strikes, making threats and refusing to talk.'  

Mugabe on Sunday is set to discuss his expected exit with army commander Constantino Chiwenga, who put him under the house arrest that he is protesting with a hunger strike. 

'We are going all the way,' Mutsvangwa, who has led the campaign to oust Zimbabwe's ruler of the last 37 years, said as he headed into the meeting, adding that Mugabe should just resign and leave the country. 'He's trying to bargain for a dignified exit but he should just smell the coffee and gap it.' 

Zanu-PF Central Committee members stood and cheered as the official chairing the emergency meeting announced plans to remove Mugabe from his leadership post on Sunday.

Obert Mpofu told the committee that they were meeting with 'a heavy heart' because Mugabe had served the country and contributed 'many memorable achievements'. 

But Mpofu said in his opening remarks that Mugabe's wife 'and close associates have taken advantage of his frail condition' to loot national resources. The party will also discuss reinstating recently fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa. 

The army threatened to let a mob lynch the dictator if he didn't stand down, MailOnline revealed on Saturday. Now Mugabe has responded by rejecting all food. 

'If he dies under military custody, even by natural causes, then the army will be held responsible by the international community,' the family member, who asked not to be named, said. 'That is how the president is trying to put pressure on the army.'

The family member also said that Grace Mugabe was by her husband's side at the Blue Roof mansion yesterday, and is thought to still be there today. 

The meeting follows rumours that the dictator had fled the country after hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest against his rule.

Video footage from protests obtained exclusively by MailOnline showed angry crowds tearing down a huge billboard of Mugabe outside the headquarters of the ruling Zanu-PF party in central Harare. 

The footage shows dramatic scenes that would have been unthinkable just a few days ago.  

While Mugabe has been removed as party leader, his title as president of Zimbabwe remains. 

He can only be removed from his presidency through resignation or impeachment, launched through a constitutional process.

'What is left is just the technical detail of how he's going to leave,' former Zimbabwean finance minister Tendai Biti told Sky News. 'Even if Zanu-PF does remove him - if they do have the power, which I doubt - that doesn't amount to removing him as president of the country.

'There has to be formal processes - either his own resignation or an impeachment.' 

Mugabe's talks with army commander Constantino Chiwenga on Sunday are the second round of negotiations on an exit with a veneer of dignity as the military tries to avoid accusations of a coup.