Put out Grace's fire, Mugabe tells Oppah

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has reportedly told outgoing Women's League boss Oppah Muchinguri to douse the fires stoked by her decision to nominate First Lady Grace Mugabe to lead the all-powerful women's affairs wing.

Mugabe made the remarks while greeting party members before a crunch politburo meeting that came in the wake of Grace's nationwide rallies where she savaged Mugabe's deputy, Vice-President Joice Mujuru.

Grace described Mujuru as corrupt, inept, and foolish, among other insults and urged her to immediately resign or face the boot.

Mujuru chaired the politburo formalities from around 1200hours until Mugabe took over around 1400hours following marathon briefings by party secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa on, among others, the agenda of the crunch meeting and goings on in the party.

Earlier, Mugabe held an hour-long meeting with Mutasa while Mujuru chaired the politburo meeting. Minutes of the previous politburo meeting had already been read when Mugabe joined others.

When it was Muchinguri's turn to greet Mugabe, the veteran leader reportedly told the outgoing Women's League boss to put out the fires sparked by her decision to elevate Grace to lead the organisation.

"You are the one who decided that you now want a new leader at the Women's League, now see, you should now put out the fires that you have started," Mugabe told a stone-faced Muchinguri.

To Information minister Jonathan Moyo, Mugabe only said "they would talk as the meeting progressed".

Mugabe has been quiet for close to a month while Grace met various arms of the ruling party at her Mazowe Orphanage Home.

Grace has met the youths, women, church leaders and war veterans in addition to addressing "Meet the People Tour" rallies nationwide where she attacked Mujuru.

Observers said Mugabe's silence meant that he had unleashed his wife to ruffle Mujuru's feathers and prepare for the rise of his perceived successor Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who reportedly lead a faction fighting with the Mujuru camp in the race to succeed Mugabe (90).

Both Mujuru and Mnangagwa have denied harbouring Presidential ambitions.

Grace on Thursday claimed Mujuru wanted to oust Mugabe from power. She claimed she had already told her husband to "baby-dump" Mujuru failure of which she would take it upon herself to accomplish the task. She also endorsed Mnangagwa as an accomplished leader during her meeting with war veterans.

Addressing journalists after the politburo meeting that ended prematurely following a power blackout, Zanu-PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said the party did not discuss Grace's utterances after Muchinguri requested that she completes compiling a report to be tabled at another politburo meeting next Wednesday.

"We were supposed to get a report from the women's league boss Oppah Muchinguri, but we didn't. She requested that she presents it next Wednesday and we will debate it," Gumbo said.

Mujuru, like Mugabe, has not responded to Grace's allegations. Grace was being accompanied by a coterie of government ministers and some top Zanu-PF officials, most of whom were linked to the Mnangagwa camp.

On Thursday, Grace showed she was fronting Mnangagwa by praising him while attacking Mujuru.

Gumbo said the meeting was like any other meetings despite speculation that it would be explosive. He said they had discussed the preparations of the party's December elective Congress which will now be held from December 2 to 7 in Harare.

He said the fund raising committee also reported that they had raised about $4 million and hoped to have raised the $8 million required for the congress by end of next week.