Zimbabwe's vice president, once seen as Robert Mugabe's heir apparent, has been fired along with eight cabinet allies, the government said today as the veteran leader purged his foes
Harare: Zimbabwe's vice president, once seen as Robert Mugabe's heir apparent, has been fired along with eight cabinet allies, the government said today as the veteran leader purged his foes.
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 today 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 has been produced to give credence to the allegations."
The ZANU-PF has been riven by factionalism over Mugabe's succession but in the past party leaders managed to paper over the cracks.
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