Mugabe appears on TV, condemns ‘Zimbabwean coup d’etat’

Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe described his departure from office in November as a "coup d'etat" that "we must undo" in his first TV interviews since then, aired on Thursday.

Mugabe, 94, spoke slowly but clearly to South Africa's SABC broadcaster from an office in Harare, dressed in a grey suit, sitting in front of a portrait of himself and his wife Grace. "I say it was a coup d'etat - some people have refused to call it a coup d'etat," said Mugabe referring to the brief army takeover which led to Emmerson Mnangagwa assuming power after Mugabe's resignation.

"We must undo this disgrace which we have imposed on ourselves, we don't deserve it... Zimbabwe doesn't deserve it." In another similarly vehement interview, with Britain's ITV News, the elderly former leader said he had no desire to return to power.