Former President Robert Mugabe had demanded a meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa to discuss what he called Zimbabwe’s return to constitutionalism.

Mugabe told journalists Thursday in his first press briefing since he was forced out of power in November last year on the back of a military coup paving the way for Mnangagwa’s return and takeover. Mugabe had fired Mnangagwa two weeks earlier on allegations the then Vice President has been plotting against him.

Now Mugabe, 94, says he wants to help Mnangagwa return to legitimacy.

“I don’t hate Mnangagwa and I want to work with him. But he must be proper to be where he is. He is illegal.

“We must undo this disgrace we have imposed on ourselves. We don’t deserve it. Zimbabwe does not deserve it. We must be constitutional. We have our Constitution and must obey it,” Mugabe said.

He added he would need Mnangagwa to officially invite him.

“I am willing to discuss and I am willing to assist in that process but I must be invited properly. Currently I am isolated,” Mugabe added.

Mugabe has not been seen in public since he resigned as Parliament began impeachment proceedings against him bringing to a dramatic end his 37 year brutal rule.

Last month, however, the former Zanu PF leader told AU chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat that he was unhappy at the way he was pushed out of power demanding that the continental body assist with restoring constitutionalism.

Mugabe has since offered his support to a new political outfit known as New Patriotic Front comprising mainly of leading figures of a faction of Zanu PF known as G40 for which the former President was seen as “godfather” in the internal power struggle before the dramatic events in November.