'Latest fire suspicious,' says Mujuru

Vice-President Mujuru says she is confused and unsatisfied with explanations regarding the cause of a fire that razed two houses at her farm in Ruwa last Thursday.

In an interview with The Sunday Mail, VP Mujuru said reports she has received were far from convincing, though police have ruled out foul play.

A nine-roomed thatched house, a round hut and a fowl run at Tarisa Farm were destroyed in the inferno that engulfed a section of the homestead.

VP Mujuru's stepson, Tendayi, who lives at the farm, later explained that the fire started when he tried to burn a snake.

The incident has spawned conspiracy theories, with some suggesting internal fights in Zanu-PF could have triggered arson.

On Friday, VP Mujuru said: "The Ruwa incident . . . that one is a confusing state of affairs because when I got there, the two houses had already been razed to the ground. I tried to find out from the young man who stays there.

"The story was not very convincing, so I thought to myself (to) leave everything to God."

The incident occurred four years after her husband, General (Retired) Solomon Mujuru, was killed in a fire at his farm in Beatrice.

After Gen Mujuru's death, the family requested an inquest which took 13 days in 2012.

Harare regional magistrate Walter Chikwanha ruled there was no foul play and said the national hero died of asphyxiation.

In response, the family lawyer, Mr Thador Kewada, unsuccessfully pushed for an independent pathologist to exhume the body for further investigation.

On reports that she leads a faction in Zanu-PF, VP Mujuru told The Sunday Mail she was not interested in fighting her juniors, emphasising that she was already part of the Presidency.

She said her subordinates in Zanu-PF were behind the serious infighting rocking the ruling party.

The VP has long been said to harbour ambitions to succeed President Mugabe, reportedly locked in a bruising battle with Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa for the country's top political office. President Mugabe has on several occasions condemned the factional battles in his party, saying ordinary people will have the final say on who next gets his job.

VP Mujuru said she would never fight those in the party's lower ranks.

She said: "The President has no faction, the party has no faction and I won't fight anybody who is junior to me. I am already part of the Presidency, that's the structure. Those who don't hold these positions, I am sure are the ones leading factions because they want to come up.

"They are the ones who are trying to push out those that are higher than them. I can't push my President. Who could I push? If the President is out of the country, I become the Acting President.

"I am there, I am helping him. When the time comes for me to retire, I will retire. I wish those who want to be VP do it the way I did it, chosen by the people. If the people want you, they will get you in. You don't have to force people."

Zanu-PF holds its elective Congress in December and there are likely to be intense battles for the two VP posts and that of National Chair.

The party is likely to use the secret ballot system, though it is understood that some senior officials are opposed to this and want leaders chosen via acclamation.