The opposition National People’s Party said Mrs Mujuru and several others were assaulted with rocks while campaigning in a suburb of the capital, Harare.

At least eight people are injured, a party spokesman told the BBC, but Mrs Mujuru’s injuries are not serious.

Her party alleges the attack was politically motivated, and carried out by members of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Zimbabwe has undergone rapid political change in the past year, with the departure of former president Robert Mugabe in November, after 37 years in power.

Its new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has promised that elections scheduled for later this year will be fair and free from violence.

Mrs Mujuru was once President Mugabe’s heir apparent, serving as vice-president for a decade before she was ousted in 2014, in a move led by Mr Mugabe’s wife Grace.

Mrs Mugabe claimed the vice-president was “corrupt, an extortionist, incompetent, a gossiper, a liar and ungrateful”. Mrs Mujuru was expelled from Zanu-PF, and became president of the National People’s Party.

Her “rainbow coalition” urged the public to vote against the Mugabes’ continued reign.

It was because of fears that Grace Mugabe was positioning herself to succeed her 93-year-old husband that led to his ultimate fall from power.

Mrs Mujuru is now challenging Zanu-PF for the presidency.

Mr Mnangagwa, meanwhile, is also a former vice-president of Robert Mugabe, having succeeded Mrs Mujuru in the role.

He is serving the remainder of Mr Mugabe’s term ahead of the scheduled mid-year elections.

–

Source: BBC

The post Zimbabwe opposition leader ‘attacked’ on campaign trail appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The rare intervention comes just a week after President Robert Mugabe sacked his deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa.

General Constantino Chiwenga, who appeared at a news conference with another 90 senior army officers, did not refer to anyone by name.

Mr Mnangagwa, once seen as a successor to Mr Mugabe, has fled into exile.

Mr Mugabe’s wife Grace, who is now the favourite to succeed her husband, referred to Mr Mnangagwa as a snake which “must be hit on the head”.

Mr Mnangagwa, nicknamed the “crocodile” because of his perceived shrewdness, has rebuked Mr Mugabe, saying Zanu-PF is “not personal property for you and your wife to do as you please”.

Speaking at the army’s headquarters, General Chiwenga said the removal of people who were involved in the independence struggle, like Mr Mnangagwa, would not be tolerated.

“The current purging, which is clearly targeting members of the party with a liberation background, must stop forthwith,” he told those gathered for the news conference.

“We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in.”

Mr Mnangagwa previously served as defence and state security minister.

Mrs Mugabe, meanwhile, has the support of the younger “Generation 40” or “G40” group of Zimbabwe politicians.

General Chiwenga also hit out at the “squabbling” between politicians, saying it had led to “no meaningful development in the country for the past five years”.

The crisis, he concluded, meant Zimbabwe was struggling with “cash shortages and rising commodity prices”.

–

Source: BBC

The post Zimbabwe military chief Chiwenga in Zanu-PF purge warning appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.