{"id":397475,"date":"2018-02-02T07:27:22","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T07:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=397475"},"modified":"2018-02-02T07:27:22","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T07:27:22","slug":"zimbabwe-opposition-leader-attacked-campaign-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/02\/zimbabwe-opposition-leader-attacked-campaign-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe opposition leader ‘attacked’ on campaign trail"},"content":{"rendered":"
Former Zimbabwean vice-president Joice Mujuru has been attacked while holding a political rally, her party says.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
At least eight people are injured, a party spokesman told the BBC, but Mrs Mujuru’s injuries are not serious.<\/p>\n
Her party alleges the attack was politically motivated, and carried out by members of the ruling Zanu-PF party.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Its new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has promised that elections scheduled for later this year will be fair and free from violence.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Her “rainbow coalition” urged the public to vote against the Mugabes’ continued reign.<\/p>\n
It was because of\u00a0fears that Grace Mugabe was positioning herself to succeed her 93-year-old husband\u00a0that led to his ultimate fall from power.<\/p>\n
Mrs Mujuru is now challenging Zanu-PF for the presidency.<\/p>\n
Mr Mnangagwa, meanwhile, is also a former vice-president of Robert Mugabe, having succeeded Mrs Mujuru in the role.<\/p>\n
He is serving the remainder of Mr Mugabe’s term ahead of the scheduled mid-year elections.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Zimbabwean vice-president Joice Mujuru has been attacked while holding a political rally, her party says. 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":397476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[561,16720,1358,11616],"yoast_head":"\n