First Lady Grace Mugabe on Monday urged her husband President Robert Mugabe to fire his deputy, Joice Mujuru, who has been fingered in a plot to assassinate the head of state.
Addressing some university students and Zanu PF supporters at her Mazowe orphanage, Mrs. Mugabe said Mr. Mugabe should now take action and dismiss his deputy after reports fingered her in a plot to assassinate the veteran president.
The first lady has on numerous occasions accused Mrs. Mujuru of corruption, incompetency and selling out to the country’s so-called detractors.
Following a report carried in the state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper Sunday linking Mrs. Mujuru to a plot to assassinate the president, Mrs. Mugabe also stunned those who attended Monday’s meeting that she has video evidence of Mrs. Mujuru also plotting to eliminate her, adding that the vice president was working with un-named foreign countries to implement those plots.
She added that Mrs. Mujuru should now face treason charges.
Mrs. Mugabe said since Vice President Mujuru was appointed 10 years ago, she has not been working in the interests of women.
She added that the person who would be elected at the forthcoming Zanu PF congress to replace Mrs. Mujuru and other ministers, should work hard or risk facing the same fate that is about to be faced by the vice president.
VOA Studio 7 contacted Vice President Mujuru for comment but she said she could not speak since she was in a meeting. But she released a statement Sunday dismissing claims that she is corrupt.
In her statement, Mrs. Mujuru said her hands are clean and she was determined to continue to work for the good of the country. On personal attacks that were launched against her by the First Lady and other Zanu PF officials, Mrs. Mujuru said she had instructed her lawyers to deal with matter.
Meanwhile, the president of the Zanu PF aligned Zimbabwe Congress of Students (ZICOSU), Leopold Chakanyuka, also told the gathering that higher education minister Olivia Muchena and youth minister Francis Nhema should also resign immediately for allegedly not advancing issues that have a bearing on the lives of youths and students.
The ZICOSU president also called for Mrs. Mujuru to resign within a fortnight while Mrs. Mugabe warned that those who continue to align themselves with Mrs. Mujuru will be punished.
Factionalism has become more pronounced in Zanu PF this year as the ruling party heads for its 6th crucial elective congress.