As the elderly head of state sought to quell infighting over his
successor, the chief secretary to the Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda, said in
a terse statement that Joice Mujuru had been fired.Also sacked were her allies in the ministries of energy, public service, and half a dozen other departments, he said.The move caps a long campaign by Mugabe and his closest lieutenants to isolate the 59-year-old Mujuru and her supporters.Once
seen as the favourite to step into the shoes of Mugabe, who is now 90,
she has come under increasing attack, notably from Mugabe's increasingly
powerful wife Grace.
Critics have accused Mujuru of plotting to assassinate the president and of dodgy business dealings.
"It
has become evident that her conduct in the discharge of her duties had
become inconsistent with the expected standard," Sibanda said in the
statement.He also blamed Mujuru for "conflict between official responsibilities and private interests".Mujuru
earlier Tuesday blamed "a well-orchestrated smear campaign and gross
abuse of state apparatus" for the loss last week of her powerful
position on the ruling party's central committee.Her ouster shook Zimbabwean politics.
The ruling ZANU-PF party last week met for a closely watched
congress to elect its officials, finally endorsing Mugabe as president
and his high-profile wife, Grace, as head of the women's wing.
Mujuru
said she was being victimised after exposing infiltrators conspiring to
destroy the party, which has ruled the country since independence in
1980."I have become the fly in the web of lies whose
final objective is the destruction of ZANU-PF and what it stands for and
ultimately the present government," Mujuru said in a statement."A
vociferous attempt has been made to portray me as 'a traitor',
'murderer' and 'sellout', yet no iota of evidence has been produced to
give credence to the allegations."
The party has been riven by factionalism over Mugabe's
succession, but in the past, party leaders managed to paper over the
cracks.The public battle with Mujuru has not only
rocked Zimbabwean politics but has put 68-year-old Justice Minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa firmly in the top position to replace Mugabe.Mnangagwa is seen as a hardliner who in the past controlled the secret police and military.
Mujuru
did not attend last week's party congress following threats against her
and her sympathisers by members of the party's youth league."I
decided to stay away from inevitable public humiliation as was meted
out to other unfortunate members of the party," she said.
"It was important to maintain the dignity of the office of the
vice president even in the face of such unwarranted violence by a
section of the party membership."Mujuru is a former guerrilla fighter who had held Cabinet posts in every Mugabe government since independence in 1980.Some cite another possible candidate as Grace Mugabe, who has also been called "Gucci Grace" and "First Shopper".
The
reports follow the election in August of the 49-year-old former typist
to a top post as head of the ruling ZANU-PF party's women's wing.After
her nomination to that post, Grace immediately launched a sustained
campaign against Mujuru, accusing her of corruption and plotting to
topple her husband.