News / National
Mugabe and Mujuru did not see eye to eye
14 May 2012 at 09:50hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe and the late Retired General Solomon did not see eye-to-eye in the period leading to the March 2008 harmonised elections with Zanu-PF insiders saying the two's "estrangement was permanent."
Mujuru died in a mysterious fire at his farmhouse at his Ruzambu Farm near Beatrice, some 60km south of the capital, Harare. Recently at a memorial service for the late general, Mugabe said he was still puzzled by how Mujuru had died in the inferno considering his military training and his alertness.
He said Mujuru had survived other fires before. But in a US cable leaked recently by whistleblower website WikiLeaks, sources within Zanu-PF told then US ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee, that although 15 days before the March 2008 election Mujuru failed to come out publicly to oppose Mugabe, "their estrangement was permanent."
The sources said Mujuru believed Mugabe would lose the election and, in not voicing his opposition openly, was hedging his bets in case Mugabe survived the election, in which case the general would actively oppose Mugabe from within.
The WikiLeaks cable also says Mujuru pledged to support Movement for Democratic Change presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai if Mugabe tried to steal the 2008 elections.
In the same cable released in August last year, Tsvangirai told McGee that he had spoken to Mujuru who had since realised that support for Simba Makoni was thin and it was better to support Tsvangirai as an alternative to Mugabe.
Mujuru died in a mysterious fire at his farmhouse at his Ruzambu Farm near Beatrice, some 60km south of the capital, Harare. Recently at a memorial service for the late general, Mugabe said he was still puzzled by how Mujuru had died in the inferno considering his military training and his alertness.
He said Mujuru had survived other fires before. But in a US cable leaked recently by whistleblower website WikiLeaks, sources within Zanu-PF told then US ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee, that although 15 days before the March 2008 election Mujuru failed to come out publicly to oppose Mugabe, "their estrangement was permanent."
The sources said Mujuru believed Mugabe would lose the election and, in not voicing his opposition openly, was hedging his bets in case Mugabe survived the election, in which case the general would actively oppose Mugabe from within.
The WikiLeaks cable also says Mujuru pledged to support Movement for Democratic Change presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai if Mugabe tried to steal the 2008 elections.
In the same cable released in August last year, Tsvangirai told McGee that he had spoken to Mujuru who had since realised that support for Simba Makoni was thin and it was better to support Tsvangirai as an alternative to Mugabe.
Source - standard
