Zanu-PF Mujuru faction accuses Mugabes of 'greed and hate'

In Zimbabwe a prominent ally of ousted vice-president Joice Mujuru has issued a public attack on President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace. In a sign that Mujuru’s faction of the ruling party, Zanu-PF, may be readying itself for a fight, former presidential affairs minister Didymus Mutasa said Tuesday that power in the party had been seized by a group of people driven by greed and hate.

Robert Mugabe Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo

Last month the 90-year-old Mugabe sacked his vice-president and 15 ministers loyal to her, in a purge of a scale unseen during Zanu-PF's more than three decades in power.

Mujuru has been silent for the last month but it appears she and her allies will not go quietly.

In a lengthy statement published in Zimbabwe's private press, the ex-presidential affairs minister accuses First Lady Grace Mugabe of preaching “a gospel of hate”.

Didymus Mutasa, a veteran nationalist and former ally of Mugabe, was sacked from the party and government last month, along with Mujuru and 14 government ministers.

They were accused of plotting to oust and even kill President Robert Mugabe, claims they categorically deny.

Yesterday Mutasa said an evil clique had robbed the 90-year-old president of his legacy and vowed that Mujuru's faction would take legal action to try to overturn their ouster.

These were brave and perhaps, as one analyst suggested, mad words.

Zimbabweans on social media speculated that no local court would be likely to rule against the president, who has been in power in this southern African country since 1980.

But what this statement does show is that anger is still running very high among Mujuru's supporters and, politically speaking, that could make for a very interesting 2015.