Mugabe openly sided with Mnangagwa faction at Politburo meeting

POLITBURO sources who spoke to the Mail & Guardian said Mugabe openly sided with the Mnangagwa faction during Thursday's politburo meeting at the Zanu-PF party's national headquarters in Harare, where he accused the vice president and her allies of wanting to oust him.

Mugabe was said to have been particularly vicious on the Zanu-PF national spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, who last week told state broadcaster the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation that the December congress should bring finality to the succession debate.

Gumbo was yesterday suspended for five years while war veterans' leader Jabulani Sibanda was expelled from the party.

The purging of Mujuru's allies follows Grace Mugabe's countrywide rallies last month, which she used to savagely attack Mujuru and her backers. She accused Mujuru of being an incompetent leader who piggybacks on Mugabe while adding no value to the presidency.

Mujuru's rivals used Gumbo's comments to confirm there was a plot to unseat Mugabe, resulting in the public media going into overdrive this week attacking Mujuru and her allies.

Members of the Mnangagwa faction are said to have used Mugabe's stinging attack on the Mujuru faction to push for Gumbo and other senior officials' ouster.

"It's (the purges) a significant development ahead of the congress. It has sent a strong and clear message to those on the other side and those who are sitting on the fence, on who is in the driving seat. The tone for the congress has been set," said a politburo member aligned to the Mnangagwa faction.

Zanu-PF will hold its elective congress in December on a date yet to be announced.

The suspensions are a blow for Mujuru and her allies ahead of the congress, which will elect party leaders, including the president and two deputies, for the next five years. Mujuru had in recent months appeared on course to retain the vice-presidency at the congress, after managing to seize control of the party's structures, including provinces.

The Mujuru faction had won control of nine of the 10 party provinces during provincial elections last year, leaving the faction well placed in the succession race given that the provinces are crucial in electing top leaders.