Mujuru could lose her position to a man, says Grace Mugabe

Vice-President Joice Mujuru could lose her position to a man since the national Constitution provides that President Mugabe can appoint any person of his choice regardless of gender, First Lady Grace Mugabe said yesterday.

She said while the Zanu-PF Constitution provided for one of the Vice-Presidents to be a woman, the national Constitution was supreme and as such, its provisions prevail.

Mugabe made the remarks while addressing cross border traders from across the country who thronged her Mazowe Children's Home to endorse her elevation to the position of secretary for Women's League at the forthcoming Zanu-PF Congress in a fortnight. She said this in response to VP Mujuru's claims in a statement that was exclusively and extensively covered by the private press on Monday that calling for her resignation was unconstitutional.

Vice-Presidents, Mugabe said, were appointed at the pleasure of the President.

"The party constitution is the one with a provision for a quota system in order to mainstream gender so that women can be elected into senior positions. The party even resolved that the Number Two person in the party should be a woman," she said.

"So in the party hierarchy, if there are two men, the third person should be a woman and it cascades like that down the party structures so that women are recognised and have senior positions in the party.

The National Constitution states that the President shall appoint the Vice-President but it doesn't say whether the person is a woman or man and it's very clear. So the President can appoint either a man or a woman as Zimbabwe's (Vice) President, it's up to him."

She said it was shocking that VP Mujuru didn't appreciate such elementary provisions yet she has been in government for the past 34 years.

Mugabe said VP Mujuru was appointed by President Mugabe and that her position as second secretary of the party did not give her a straitjacket to Vice-Presidency of the country.

As such, she said it was important for VP Mujuru to first read and understand the national Constitution before ignorantly rushing to the private press claiming that expressing a vote of no confidence in her was unconstitutional.

"We're saying if one does what we do not want, we've a right to stand up and say the route you have taken is against the wishes and aspirations of the people.

"When what you're doing is against national aspirations we've the right to say step down. I said it before that Zanu-PF has many capable cadres who're able to take over from Mujuru," she said.

The First Lady said all her revelations about VP Mujuru's corruption, gossip and threats to make life unbearable for the First Family in the event that President Mugabe dies before her, were based on evidence.

She said she would never fabricate allegations just to tarnish VP Mujuru's image but it was time for her to save herself the embarrassment of being sacked by resigning.

Mugabe said VP Mujuru lost it by going to the private Press trying to defend herself when evidence is abound.

"If it was me, I should have just kept quiet because some of these responses anger people as evidenced by people's reactions. The people have gone to the extent of asking – who does Mujuru think she is? You become so elaborate in the newspapers yet we know what you have been doing. It is better when allegations are being levelled against you to keep quiet and people will respect you," she said.

The First Lady said some people may brag about being educated yet did not have wisdom despite obtaining several certificates.

She urged those who attended the meeting to pray for the Vice-President to exorcise her "demons", adding that wearing a uniform and going to church did not symbolise one's faith since some people could do it but still be devious.

Mugabe said while some people in Zanu-PF participated in liberating the country, their actions exhibited traits of those who had been forced to go to war.

The First Lady said VP Mujuru could not distance herself from factional activities by some party cadres who were trying to aid her unconstitutional rise.

She said if VP Mujuru was not part of them, she should have reprimanded them.

Mugabe said some politicians frequented witch doctors for luck in their political ambitions, adding that there was evidence of these shenanigans.

She said VP Mujuru was being used by the British to destroy Zanu-PF from within after their MDC project failed.

The First Lady set the record straight that when President Mugabe said Zanu-PF had been infiltrated by weevils during the burial of national hero Nathan Shamuyarira, he did not mean Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Jonathan as widely purported by the private Press.

She said VP Mujuru claimed that President Mugabe meant Prof Moyo by whispering that she had been vindicated yet she was the actual weevil evidenced by the ongoing purging of party officials aligned to her who wanted to remove President Mugabe from power through unconstitutional means.

Turning to cross-border traders, Mugabe implored them to be resilient in the face of several challenges they face.

She said President Mugabe acknowledged the role cross-border traders and small to medium enterprises played in national development to the country's Gross Domestic Product hence he created a ministry specifically for that purpose.

The First Lady said cross-border traders' industriousness saw them help the country survive the hyper inflationary environment of 2007 and 2008.

Mugabe said she was also a product of cross-border trading who faced similar challenges.

She called on law enforcement agencies to stop harassing cross-border traders when they are going about their businesses.