Anti-Mujuru crusade 'gets dirty'

The plot to embarrass - and possibly arrest ex-vice president Joice Mujuru - has thickened amid revelations that her Zanu-PF enemies are even preparing to use a variety of dirty tricks to nail her.

While insiders say party hardliners are frustrated at the snail pace of police investigations into Mujuru's alleged corruption, abuse of office and treason, it is also understood that the hysteria was driven by panic over former Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa's imminent legal action.

Apart from the spurious illegal arms possession - and sedition - charges, the aggressors are also reportedly aiming to frame or incriminate the hapless widow's perceived allies through honey traps and other dirty tactics.

As such, some women are even being lined up, if not pressured, to lay rape charges against party heavyweights linked to Mujuru.

The latest operation, they said, was meant to ensure that the ex-VP and her sympathisers - notably Mutasa and who is preparing a class action against President Robert Mugabe's party - do not have "a snowball's chance in hell" of upsetting the balance of power, which favours the hardliners.

Mujuru lost her government and Zanu-PF positions in December after the 90-year-old leader and his wife Grace accused her along the party's former secretary for administration, and ex-spokesperson Rugare Gumbo for plotting to unseat him through a coup.

In addition to personal advisors and professionals, who are perceived to be the face of her resistance crusade or movement, Mutasa, Gumbo and lawyers such as Sobusa Gula-Ndebele - the man seen as the rebels' legal brains - may not be spared in this desperate bid to silence the popular group, the sources said.

While Mujuru was not immediately reachable for comment, Mutasa has since made it clear that he was not afraid of any machinations that could result in his arrest.

"I respect people but am not afraid of anyone. I am challenging the outcome of the congress chiefly because I am not afraid. They are many people out there in Zanu-PF who cannot raise a finger against what is obviously wrong because they are afraid, not me," said Mutasa.

Gumbo, who was thrown in dungeons prior to independence in 1980 by Mugabe, on Thursday dismissed any attempts at implicating him in any sinister plot.

"Our struggle is to correct the wrongs that took place during the congress. We are not afraid of anything. What they are doing just shows how desperate they are in covering their footsteps. At my age I am no longer afraid of anything" said the 74-year-old veteran of the struggle.

What is worrying Mujuru's foes is the unprecedented defiance exhibited by her camp.

"They thought that Mujuru would be a pushover but the fact is she has the support of the people and some sympathisers inside. The fact that she was in government for 34 years only makes things even harder for them since she has connections," said another source.

Charity Charamba, the police spokesperson, yesterday said she could not comment on the matter.