Former Zimbabwe finance minister Simba Makoni has said there will be no backlash against veteran President Robert Mugabe if he topples him at this month's general election. "President Mugabe is someone who has a very special place in our history," Makoni said in an interview, ruling out retribution against Mugabe.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's deputy, Joyce Mujuru, has thrown her weight behind the veteran ruler's bid for a sixth term, dispelling speculation linking her to Mugabe's rival, Simba Makoni. Mujuru was quoted by the state-owned Herald newspaper on Monday as saying: "Firstly, you should vote for comrade Mugabe".
Zimbabwe's ruling party on Wednesday formally expelled a former ally of President Robert Mugabe for launching a challenge to the veteran leader in next month's elections, a Zanu-PF official said. Veterans of the country's liberation war have branded former finance minister Simba Makoni a traitor after he entered the race on Tuesday.
Veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war warned a former ally of President Robert Mugabe who will run against him in next month's elections that he was a traitor, government newspapers reported on Wednesday. Former finance minister Simba Makoni, a senior member of the ruling Zanu-PF, entered the presidential race on Tuesday.
Robert Mugabe's vice-president has endorsed the veteran Zimbabwean leader's candidature for presidential elections next year and has suggested he should even rule until he dies, a report said on Sunday. Joseph Msika said no-one was so far challenging Mugabe's bid to seek a sixth consecutive term and urged supporters to endorse him at a ruling party congress.
An independent Zimbabwe newspaper on Friday claimed that President Robert Mugabe has named four potential successors, and they do not include Vice-President Joyce Mujuru. The Zimbabwe Independent claimed Mugabe said that the four serious candidates to succeed him were Emmerson Mnangagwa, Sydney Sekeramayi, John Nkomo and Simba Makoni.
The ruling party in Zimbabwe has agreed to enforce age limits for its powerful youth wing in what analysts say may be a move to rein in over-ambitious leaders embroiled in the Zanu-PF's messy succession debate, it emerged on Monday. Leaders of Zanu-PF's youth wing must now not be older than 30 years, according to a report in Herald newspaper.
