Zimbabwe’s deputy president allegedly plots to kill Mugabe

Zimbabwe’s vice president, Joice Mujuru, has been linked to an assassination plot against the country’s sit-tight president, Robert Mugabe.

                                      Joice Mujuru,                                      Robert Mugabe       Credit: AP/Reuters via Telegraph

State-run newspaper, the Sunday Mail, reports that Mujuru, 59 was planning the assassination with two of her allies within the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Mujuru is among the two frontrunners seeking to succeed Mugabe even though Mugabe’s wife, Grace, has been campaigning in recent months, as a presidential aspirant.

She has used some of her rallies to accuse Mrs Mujuru, of being the West's preferred candidate, as well of being a thief, and plotting a coup against her husband.

The allegations follow last week’s suspension of many of Mrs Mujuru's key supporters within Zanu-PF.

The Telegraph UK quotes Ibbo Mandaza, a Zimbabwean analyst who was a senior member of Zanu-PF until six years ago, as saying that Mrs Mujuru, who is thought to be the West's preferred candidate to take over from Mr Mugabe, is now a "lame duck" vice president.