President Robert Mugabe
Harare — Africa has been riveted by the drama that led to longtime Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's resignation after 37 years in power. He had resisted growing calls to step down after the military put him under house arrest a week ago. Many across the continent have known no other leader of the once-prosperous southern African nation but the 93-year-old Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state. Here is a look at his more than three decades in power.
1980: Mugabe named prime minister after independence elections
1982: Military action begins in Matabeleland against perceived uprising; government is accused of killing thousands of civilians
1987: Mugabe changes the Constitution and becomes president
1994: Mugabe receives honorary British knighthood
2000: Land seizures of white-owned farms begin; Western donors cut off aid
2005: United States calls Zimbabwe an "outpost of tyranny"
2008: Mugabe and opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai agree to share power after a contested election; Britain's Queen Elizabeth II annuls Mugabe's honorary knighthood
2011: Prime Minister Tsvangirai declares power-sharing a failure amid violence
2013: Mugabe wins his seventh term; opposition alleges election fraud
2016: #ThisFlag protest movement emerges; independence war veterans turn on Mugabe, calling him "dictatorial"
2017: Mugabe begins campaigning for 2018 elections
Nov. 6: Mugabe fires deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa, appearing to position first lady Grace Mugabe for vice president post
Nov. 15: Army announces it has Mugabe and his wife in custody as military appears to take control
Nov. 18: Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans march against Mugabe
Nov. 19: Ruling party Central Committee tells Mugabe to resign as president by noon on Monday or face impeachment. He addresses the nation but does not step aside
Nov. 21: Mugabe resigns shortly after Parliament begins impeachment proceedings.
