First Lady Grace Mugabe on Thursday cautioned factions in her ruling Zanu PF party angling to succeed her husband to “stop it,” and called for an audit to ensure full utilization of land redistributed to black farmers.
“Some people think factionalism is only rife in the high ranks of the party,” Mrs. Mugabe told thousands of supporters at a rally in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province.
“But even people at the grassroots level are fighting… They are dividing the party. I see some of you are getting angry because I raised this issue; you must stop it.”
The first lady - considered divisive and overly confrontational by some - promised to expose those fueling factional fights if they did not cease the hostilities.
Her threats usually come to pass. Last year, she waged a fierce battle with former Vice President Joice Mujuru for allegedly plotting to unseat her husband, President Robert Mugabe.
Mrs. Mujuru was subsequently fired from her position in government and expelled from Zanu PF together with several party officials.
At the rally, Mrs. Mugabe distributed eight tractors sourced from Brazil, VOA Studio 7 correspondent Loidham Moyo reported.
She castigated plans to introduce prepaid electricity meters to farmers, saying the proposals were detrimental to the agrarian revolution that Harare embarked on more than a decade ago.
To ensure more productivity on the farms, Mrs. Mugabe called on the government to ensure farmers are not affected by ongoing power cuts.