Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe Resigns as President

Robert Mugabe has stepped down as president of Zimbabwe. The decision came on the heels of impeachment hearings scheduled by his ruling ZANU-PF party.

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The former head of state is believed to have handed his resignation letter to the speaker of the house, according to Express. In it, Mugabe wrote that his decision to resign was made voluntarily, a move to help foster a smooth transfer of power, according to Reuters.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe's former vice president who was fired by Mugabe two weeks ago, will now assume the presidency. Nick-named the "Crocodile," Mnangagwa also assumed the presidency of ZANU-PF after Mugabe was expelled from the party.

Mugabe's resignation comes days after he gave a nationally televised speech in which he said that all Zimbabweans must “embrace a new ethos.” With military officials to his right and government officials to his left, he added, “We are a nation born out of a protracted struggle for national independence” and that the goals and ideals of the struggle against “those who occupied and oppressed us” continue to “guide” our “collective legacy across generations and times.”