Diplomatic Mujuru tells Mugabe off

VICE PRESIDENT Joice Mujuri has penned a lengthy missive chronicling her present trials and tribulations within the faction-riddled Zanu PF.

VICE PRESIDENT Joice Mujuri has penned a lengthy missive chronicling her present trials and tribulations within the faction-riddled Zanu PF.

In the same public letter Mujuru, however, is quick to boldly declare she won’t quit despite fearing for her life. The embattled VP attempts to respond to a myriad of allegations levelled against her by President Robert Mugabe who last week described his second in commander for the past ten years as too simplistic to aspire to succeed him.

Vice President Joice Mujuru
Vice President Joice Mujuru

For the past three months or so ahead of last week’s sixth Zanu PF congress Mujuru has been game with even far junior party cadrés calling her by all sort of names, forcing her on Monday to release the public letter in which she reveals her life is in danger from her political opponents in the party.

She has categorically denied dabbling in witchcraft, that she is incompetent and inept, she abused her office to enrich herself and family that she is a criminal, a murderer as well as the sensational claims she plotted to assassinate Mugabe.

The reading of the letter shows a person clearly in defiant mood. Mujuru reminds Mugabe and his Zanu PF administration that Zimbabweans are crying out for solutions to the simple problems the country is grappling with:

How to put food on the table, how to obtain healthcare, sending children to school

Providing transport and restoring the transport infrastructure,

Keeping cities clean, and restoring electricity to all urban households together with clean running water.

In essence Mujuru is telling Mugabe off albeit in a diplomatic manner. But in the same breath she indicates the political fight may still be on though much will depend on her strategies going forward. Questions abound how long can she remain defiant.

President-Robert-Mugabe
President-Robert-Mugabe

What options does she have outside Zanu PF? Can she go for the jugular and form her own political party?. The MDC experiences are a good example in that regard. Her strategy could be to bid her time in the party and wait for Mugabe to depart.

She has age on her side and the strategy may be to keep in touch with grassroots support while waiting for the end of Mugabe’s rule.