Residents of the Zimbabwean capital of Harare and Bulawayo, the country's second city, woke up Monday to find the streets awash with pamphlets urging them to vote for Vice President Joyce Mujuru as president in the next elections. Mujuru declined to comment on the incident but a member of her staff dismissed it as a prank.
President Robert Mugabe is seeking re-election as candidate of his ruling ZANU-PF party - but relations between Mr. Mugabe and Mujuru are known to be cool.
The colorful pamphlets featuring a picture of the vice president and her liberation war credentials were especially abundant in Bulawayo. The pamphlet said Mujuru will hold all government members accountable if she is elected. Some Zimbabweans who picked up the pamphlets said they believed they were genuine.
Home Affairs Secretary Sam Sipepa Nkomo of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change told reporter Chris Gande of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the wide distribution of the pamphlets suggested high-level sponsorship.
More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...