Axed Vice-President Joice Mujuru yesterday implored Zanu PF to stop denigrating her by continuing to make false allegations that she plotted to kill President Robert Mugabe in the same manner the late Democratic Republic of Congo leader, Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001.
By Staff Reporter
In a statement, quickly becoming her favoured means of responding to brickbats from her former colleagues, Mujuru said after she was accused of plotting to unseat Mugabe and consulting witch doctors, she challenged her accusers to take her to court, but they had not done so almost a year since she was fired on those allegations.
“When I denied the allegations a year ago, I challenged the authorities to take action in a court of law. This is still to happen,” she said.
“I was accused of plotting to overthrow the President, I was accused of visiting witchdoctors for assistance and that I had betrayed the ethos and the values of the liberation struggle. I did nothing wrong.”
Mujuru, believed to be at the forefront of the yet-to-be-launched People First party, said, now that she was no longer part of the ruling party, she should be allowed to be free to do as she pleased, without Zanu PF being obsessed with her.
“Lately, I have been said to be a part of People First, as if it is a crime. I am free to do whatever I choose to do with my life outside Zanu PF,” she said.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“It is part of the freedom I fought for when we went to war. This is enshrined in our State Constitution. We should desist from thinking and believing that any other political party is illegal or unconstitutional for that matter.”
Mugabe at the weekend claimed Mujuru had plotted to kill him in the same manner Kabila was assassinated by aggrieved aides.
He said they had fought the liberation war together with Mujuru, but she had rebelled, accusations Mujuru has strenuously denied.
“Let’s put our People First and avoid focusing an entire nation’s energy on denigrating a poor widow, who is quietly, lawfully and constitutionally pursuing her own wishes outside Zanu PF,” Mujuru said in response to Mugabe’s allegations.
She instead urged her former boss to expend his energies on dealing with electricity shortages, the economic crisis, poverty and mitigating the potential drought “bedevilling our nation”.
In messages pregnant with innuendo, Mujuru signs off by saying: “Let us Build Zimbabwe together by putting the People First.”
Build is an economic blueprint she publicised a couple of months ago, while People First is the party she is reportedly expected to lead.
“Zimbabweans are free to choose whom they want or wish to lead them or what party they want or wish to join or support,” she said.
Mujuru has for the better part of the year kept the nation guessing on her political plans, although most believe she is readying up for a challenge against Mugabe.
There is no love lost between the two since the President’s wife First Lady Grace Mugabe last year vehemently and repeatedly accused Mujuru of plotting to oust him, accusations that led to her being fired as Vice-President.
