Will Mujuru weather the storm?

ALTHOUGH she has been told to resign several times, embattled vice president is still hanging on!

She has refused to back down despite a barrage of inhuman attacks aimed at pressuring her to resign before next month's congress, where some think she will lose her job.

In the face of increasing personal attacks on her and her family, Mujuru has largely remained quiet, only once issuing a statement in which she repeated her intentions to continue serving in her position.

In a strange twist of fate, Mujuru remained acting as president while President Robert Mugabe travelled to Equatorial Guinea, only a day after First Lady Grace Mugabe reiterated calls that she must resign.

Analysts feel there is a deliberate strategy to frustrate Mujuru before congress, because her adversaries fear she may brew a shocker at next month's meeting.

They added that attempts to push her out before congress suggest fear that ordinary party members might ignore Grace's angry calls to dump her and instead vote her back to her position.

This, they said, was one chance those calling for her ouster could take, hence pushing for her ouster before congress and even now insisting that the president better appoints his lieutenants.

Political analyst Beloved Chiweshe said those writing off Mujuru could do so at their own peril.

"Politicians are known to have multiple lives," he said.

 "The chances of a comeback between now and congress may be limited, but a lot can change the dynamics within Zanu PF — the president's age and reports of ill-health being key.

"What the Mujuru camp may do between now and the congress is difficult to predict. However, her liberation credentials might cushion her from possible extremist behaviour by party members."

South Africa-based media scholar Trust Matsilele, however, argued otherwise, saying it was highly unlikely Mujuru would be co-opted into the executive even though she might draw support.

"There is some re-configuration in the liberation party as the minority faction tries to consolidate its position post-Mugabe era," he said.

"They are making such pronouncements as a pre-emptive measure to ensure that if she is to win at the congress, she is not co-opted into the executive."

A Mujuru ouster at the congress may trigger a Cabinet reshuffle, considering Mugabe usually takes his annual leave immediately after the meeting and he may be loath to leave someone who has just been ousted in charge.

There are reports that if Mujuru fails to garner a nomination from the provinces, she may be nominated from the floor, a move that could embarrass the mandarins pushing for her ouster.

This, informed sources said, could be the reason why there was a purge of her perceived supporters within provincial structures.

Already, controversy is brewing on the accreditation of delegates to attend the meeting as there seems to be an orchestrated effort to cull anyone aligned to the vice-president.

Initially, Mujuru's adversaries advocated for a secret ballot election at the party's congress, but when they realised that this was not gaining traction, they changed tact and now want Mugabe to appoint his deputies.

Mujuru is accused of a raft of charges ranging from corruption and promoting factionalism to treason.