Mike Hutchings/Reuters
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe resigned Tuesday, BBC News reported. Mugabe, who had been in power since the country’s independence in 1980, stepped down after parliament began the process of impeachment. He was accused of positioning his wife as his successor and allowing her to try and “usurp constitutional power,” BBC News reported. His own Zanu-PF party supported his removal. Mugabe wrote in a letter to parliament that his decision to resign is voluntary. He had previously refused to step down despite several days of protests calling for his removal and last week’s military takeover in response to the president ousting Emmerson Mnangagwa as vice-president. Mnangagwa will take over the presidency in the next two days, according to an Associated Press report.