'Mugabe turning into a tyrant,' says former ally Rugare Gumbo

One of Robert Mugabe's oldest and closest allies has launched a scathing attack on his presidency, accusing him of trying to turn Zimbabwe into a monarchy by lining up his wife to succeed him.

Rugare Gumbo, who has known Mugabe for 50 years, was this week expelled from the ruling Zanu-PF party amid bitter factional infighting. On Thursday the president told a party congress there was a "treacherous cabal" bent on removing him from power.

But Gumbo rejected the charge and accused the 90-year-old of authoritarianism as he seeks to appoint his wife, Grace Mugabe, as his deputy and heir apparent.

"I feel betrayed," Gumbo said in his first interview since his expulsion. "After serving my country for so many years and being involved in the liberation for such a long time, I feel really let down because we could have worked together until his demise."

For years, Gumbo served as Zanu-PF's information and publicity secretary, defending the president and party against allegations of repression, human rights abuses and election rigging. Now, cast into the political wilderness, he speaks more freely.

"The way things are happening, it's hard not to conclude that there is an amount of dictatorship, there is an amount of tyranny, there is an amount of authoritarianism," he said in the capital, Harare.

"If you're going to appoint your vice-president, that smacks of authoritarianism in this age when people should be elected. To me, it doesn't make sense."

Gumbo claimed that he, vice-president Joice Mujuru and other senior figures are being purged because they objected to Mugabe's plan to name himself president for life and Grace - dubbed "DisGrace" and "First Shopper" by critics - as his deputy instead of holding internal elections.

"Mugabe said he wants to rule for ever," Gumbo said. "We said no, it's not right, it's not democratic. It's not right that you hold a congress with unelected people. For some of us, that's unacceptable."

Grace Mugabe has publicly denounced Mujuru, seen as a relative moderate, and the state-controlled Herald newspaper has launched fierce attacks on Mujuru's character. Mugabe has accused the vice-president of plotting to assassinate him and even asking witch doctors to cast a magic spell using water insects named Mugabe and Mujuru.

Gumbo, 74, responded: "The rubbish they're talking about, trying to assassinate him … To talk about a coup is unbelievable."

Gumbo first met Mugabe in prison in 1964 during the liberation struggle against white minority rule in what was then Rhodesia.

Looking back on the life and career of Africa's oldest president, he reflected: "He was really bright, alert, articulate, committed to the nationalist cause. He was really quite radical. But his personality changed of late. He's no longer himself. He was young and vibrant; now he's a tired old man."

The party congress ends today with the appointment of new leadership. Grace is set to become head of the Zanu-PF women's league, giving her a seat on the politburo.

Despite his advanced years and rumours of cancer, Mugabe is running unchallenged as Zanu-PF's candidate for the 2018 general election. He will then be 94 years old.