Mugabe reveals why he dumped Mujuru

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has all but revealed the ouster of his former deputy Joice Mujuru was a result of envy and jealousy as a result of Mujuru’s academic achievements instead of the alleged plans to topple or assassinate him.

The revelation also brings to rest the controversial awarding of a doctorate degree to his wife, Grace, whose doctorate in philosophy, awarded by the university of Zimbabwe in a record period of three months, remains an albatross around the neck of the first family.

In an interview with the state television broadcaster Mugabe all but revealed Mujuru was deposed from her position on false allegations.

“She went to university, now she has become a doctor and thought now I can be a President,” he said. “It is not those things that count, you must be a person with capacity and experience apart from that you must be disciplined and obedient.”

“You follow procedures of the party, you don’t go against the rules of the party, you abide with the rules of the party, you respect the hierarchy and not plan a coup de tat, worse still an assassination.”

“The woman grew ambitious and did not want to buy her time to see the President either retire or die,” he said.

“The man has just won an election and you want to remove him, you think it is that easy.

“We don’t know who misled this woman. I put her in that position not that she qualified, there were men who were better qualified than her, but we wanted to groom her there,” Mugabe said.

Days before the Zanu PF December congress which was supposed to be an elective one to usher a new leadership for the next five years, Mugabe, using his wife, unleashed an unprecedented attack on his deputy accusing her of all sorts of wrong doing from corruption to plans to assassinate him.

However in his interview Mugabe let the cat out of the bag and exposed the main reason why Mujuru had to be disposed: her academic achievements.

Mujuru has since been deposed as both State and Zanu PF vice president over claims she plotted to topple Mugabe from power, with the assassination said to have been considered as a contingency if the veteran leader refused to step down.

Commenting on the fallout during an interview with State television to mark his 91st birthday, Mugabe said Mujuru allowed her educational achievements and vaulting ambition to get the better of her.

Mujuru joined the liberation struggle after completing just two years of secondary education. At the end of the war she became the youngest member of Mugabe’s cabinet and fitted secondary school in between her busy schedule after she was appointed minister.

She continued to study until she attained a doctorate alongside Mugabe’s wife Grace in September last year. But Mugabe said the university education fooled Mujuru into thinking that she was ready to take over power.