According to a report from Reuters, senior Zanu-PF officials did not want President Robert Mugabe to resign on live television with the military generals flanking him as this would have confirmed that military takeover by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) was, in fact, a coup. According to the sources, this was the primary reason why Mugabe did not announce his resignation last night. The ZDF has been at pains to explain that this is not a military takeover of government. The military is insisting that it is only “targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country, ” so that they could bring them to justice.
The speech was in fact, meant to “sanitise” the military’s actions so that the international community does not take any action against Zimbabwe.
Said one source:
It would have looked extremely bad if he had resigned in front of those generals. It would have created a huge amount of mess.
More: Reuters