An alleged coup plot against President Robert Mugabe was to be carried out in two phases with the first phase seeing the ouster of vice-president Joseph Msika and Zanu-PF chairperson John Nkomo, the High Court heard on Friday.
Zimbabwe’s former information minister Jonathan Moyo is suing Nkomo and Zanu-PF politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa for Z$2-billion for allegedly telling Mugabe that Moyo plotted a coup against him and other senior Zanu-PF leaders.
The trial entered its fourth day on Friday with a witness, Virginia Sithole, telling High Court Judge Francis Bere that a Zanu-PF district coordinating meeting for Tsholotsho district called by Nkomo was told that the coup plot was in two phases, with the first phase targeting Nkomo and Msika and the second phase dealing with Mugabe.
Ndlovu disputed claims put to her by defence lawyer Francis Chirimuuta who had said minutes of a coordinating meeting indicated that the Tsholotsho declaration only targeted Mugabe.
”According to my understanding of events at the Tsholotsho meeting attended by the two accused, the issue that came to the fore was that the Tsholotsho coup was targeting not only President Mugabe but also Nkomo and vice-president Msika and the coup was to be carried out in two phases.
”The first phase would have seen Msika and Nkomo ejected from the party, while President Mugabe would be dealt with in the next phase,” Ndlovu told the court.
The trial was to continue on Monday with Moyo expected to call in more witnesses to testify against the accused.
On Thursday, the court heard that senior Zanu-PF leaders loyal to former parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa had plotted a parliamentary coup that would have seen Parliament order Mugabe to resign.
Zanu-PF, which has enjoyed 26 years of uninterrupted rule since independence from Britain, is embroiled in a bitter struggle over Mugabe’s successor. Moyo and several other senior Zanu-PF leaders had backed Mnangagwa for the vice-presidency against Joyce Mujuru.
The plans were, however, scuttled at the last minute with Mugabe accusing those backing Mnangagwa of plotting to topple the party’s leadership.
The case, which gives a glimpse of the power struggle within Zanu-PF over Mugabe’s succession, will see more confidential documents, including minutes of several Zanu-PF committees and confidential party correspondence, being introduced in court as evidence. — ZimOnline