By Xolisani Ncube
Beleaguered Vice-President Joice Mujuru and her acolytes sought traditional and divine intervention in their bid to topple President Robert Mugabe, it was revealed on Wednesday.
Mujuru, according to President Mugabe, used her side-kick, deposed Mashonaland East Zanu PF chairperson, Ray Kaukonde, to hire the services of traditional healers and apostolic faith ‘fetish priests’ to get rid of him.
The president told Zanu PF’s 97th ordinary session of the central committee, which Mujuru, party secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and Labour minister Nicholas Goche did not attend, that the trio along with their followers had sold out through “idiotic and foolish machinations”.
He said the plot to remove him was mooted long back and involved engaging traditional healers, bishops and secret meetings with Zanu PF enemies in dark places where promises to fund the project by Western nations were made.
“Using this Kaukonde, they went and sought for a traditional healer to enhance their chances get into power. They were told to have two creatures one representing a Mugabe and the other representing a Mujuru and were instructed that these creatures must fight and whichever wins, will rule, and I think the Mugabe conquered,” President Mugabe said to the applause of central committee members.
Mujuru is accused of leading a faction of the former guerrilla movement that has been scheming to remove the President from power.
With her political star on the rise, Mujuru was quickly brought down to earth following the surprise entrance onto the political scene of First Lady Grace Mugabe to take up the position of Women’s League boss.
The First Lady embarked on a whirlwind tour of the country’s provinces to thank Zanu PF structures for nominating her to the position.
She also openly called for Mujuru’s ouster accusing the country’s number two of plotting against the government, corruption and extortion among a litany of misdemeanors.
Mujuru was supposed to be the beneficiary of an elaborate and sinister plot to assassinate President Mugabe according to the state media with assistance from Goche and Mutasa along with suspended party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo.
President Mugabe gave graphic details of the sinister plot telling the gathering Mujuru had been elevated to the party’s presidium in 2004 from obscurity.
“We took her from a no body, little did we know that they were plotting foolish and idiotic machinations behind us,” he said.
The president said Mujuru in a bid to ouster Mugabe visited an apostolic bishop Noah Taguta requesting to be anointed but was turned down.
“Because I had visited the Marange church and given a gown before the bishop blessed me, she also demanded to go there and requested that she be blessed as well to enhance her chances of taking over from me,” he said.
In the run up to the July 2013 elections, President Mugabe visited the Marage church in Manicaland where it was “prophesied” that he would win the election. “…you want to take over, to topple the sitting president illegally, it’s a pity that money, money… oh ….money is being used to do this,” he said.
Mujuru is the patron of an organization that represents the interests of apostolic sects.
Added the president; “This is a time of soul-searching, as leaders in the central committee we must ask ourselves are we still united as we were when we won the election in 2013. I know you might be wondering why are we only two (Mugabe and Simon Khaya Moyo) here at the top table, where are others? Power, power power, they love power such that they cannot wait”.
President Mugabe said he had no problem with ambitious party members.
“I am not saying don’t have ambitions, but don’t plot devilish things. Don’t plan to remove me illegally, that we will not happen. If you want any post go for it. Even if you want to be a president go for it and if you have people, you win. That’s it,” he said.
He confirmed media reports the Mujuru faction had sought to overthrow him violently.
“But in the process to achieve that, that is when they wanted to shoot me. The man has refused to die and even now he is still refusing to die, zvave kutoda n’anga. They (Mujuru faction) said they read that Mugabe is going to die in September but the man has refused to die and even now he is still refusing to die, zvave kutoda n’anga,” he said. “Another notion is that I would win the elections and hand over power to her. I would never do that”.
The central committee, the most powerful body outside congress was last night expected to endorse constitutional amendments, which empowers the president to appoint his two deputies and the national chairperson, moving away from the usual norm of electing them.
It was also expected to endorse a list of central committee members approved by the politburo-the management sub-committee of the central committee for the coming five years.
Already Mujuru, Nicholas Goche and Mutasa among a host of her allies have fallen by the way side in their bid to be central committee members after they respective provinces rejected them. The Zimbabwe Mail
