Former first lady Grace Mugabe may have been humiliated when she was photographed watching in awe the swearing in of her archrival Emmerson Mnangagwa as the new president.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday he will be a listening and responsive president and urged Zimbabweans to engage with the government because no one has a monopoly of ideas.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for fee and peaceful elections adding “let us never allow our political discourse turn poisonous”.

Zimbabwe Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who was instrumental in getting rid of former president Robert Mugabe replacing him with Emmerson Mnangagwa, always preferred political rather than military issues, an army general said way back in 2010.

Zimbabwe will lay off more than 3 500 government workers today as the government implements its economic reform programme aimed at cutting government expenditure and trimming the civil service.