Mujuru allies reproduce Jonathan Moyo's 'Mugabe must go' articles

A GROUP led by vice president Joice Mujuru who leads a faction to succeed President Mugabe has republished damning opinion pieces denigrating Mugabe and written by information minister Jonathan Moyo in 2008 and 2011 when he was independent legislator for Tsholotsho North.

Moyo became a fierce Mugabe critic after he was expelled from the ruling party over the Dinyane scandal.

Moyo is loath to seeing the stories he wrote against Mugabe and at one time threatened to sue the Zimbabwe Independent and the Daily News for republishing his articles.

An unknown group, opposed to Moyo and probably linked to Mujuru yesterday reproduced two articles in full page advertorials in a local daily.

The group says they are youths against regime change from within Zanu PF.

A full page colour advertisement at the paper that carried their advert costs $2 150, evidence that the group will spare no expense at tarnishing Moyo's image.

Moyo, who has a stranglehold on State media which has been at the forefront of denigrating those seen as aligned to Mujuru, has been pointed out as the brains behind the campaign against the vice-president and the advertisements may be meant to knock him off his pedestal.

The advertorial by the unnamed youths is seen as a direct response to the publishing of Zanu PF national spokesperson Rugare Gumbo's interview done in 1980 by the Rhodesia Herald which is critical of Mugabe.

It is yet to be seen what effect the advertorials will have, as Moyo's views were already in the public domain at the time of his re-admittance to Zanu PF.

However, the advertorials and the re-publishing of Gumbo's interviews show what depths the factions are willing to sink to in effort to denigrate each other.

Southern Eye