Bruised Mujuru warns Mugabe

Former Vice President and now ZPF leader Joice Mujuru who is still smarting from her party's crushing defeat at the hands of Zanu-PF in Saturday's Bikita West by-election says she still has enough fuel in the tank to topple President Robert Mugabe from power in 2008.

She said the weekend elections had still demonstrated that ZPF set to eat into Zanu-PF's support base in the eagerly anticipated 2018 national polls.

Meanwhile, the just-ended Bikita West parliamentary by-election has claimed its first casualty, with the opposition Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF)'s Masvingo provincial chairperson, Claudius Makova, stepping down after he was allegedly accused of contributing to their candidate's humiliating defeat.

Makova is accused of brushing aside the provincial executive's advice and railroading the Joice Mujuru-led opposition party into the by-election without adequate preparations.

ZimPF's Kudakwashe Gopo came a distant second with 2 453 votes against Zanu-PF's Beauty Chabaya, who garnered 13 156 votes and was duly declared winner. Makova yesterday confirmed he had stepped down, but said he would remain an ordinary card-carrying member of the party.