The freedom fighter who could topple Mugabe

Joice Mujuru remains a thorn in Robert Mugabe’s side.

In December last year she was accused of leading a rebellious faction in Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party that threatened Mugabe’s renewed bid for the presidency.

She was unceremoniously stripped of her title as vice-president as punishment for her apparent betrayal and left politics and the capital, Harare, behind her.

The short exile seems to have been productive for the 60-yearold campaigner: last week, several newspapers published a new manifesto penned by Mujuru, a two-page document that pitched itself as a blueprint for the country’s future. Met with much fanfare, critics have been quick to speculate that the document is a sign Mujuru is about to announce her own political party to challenge Mugabe in the elections scheduled for 2018.

The new party is rumoured to be called the Zimbabwe African National Union — People First (Zanu-PF), which, once formally announced, will surely spark a legal battle with Mugabe’s own Zimbabwe African National Union — Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF).

The manifesto, titled Build, has been greeted by both a groundswell of excitement and scepticism. Mujuru’s supporters agree that it’s a well-crafted economic strategy designed to appeal to voters on the centre, and to moderate but disgruntled Zanu-PF voters.

The manifesto comes at a time when the country’s economy is in crisis, Zanu-PF has been weakened by a series of recent purges, and confidence in Mugabe (91) is falling.

Regional research unit NKC African Economics has described Mujuru as “perhaps Zimbabwe’s last realistic hope of salvation”, saying she had more political clout than current opposition leaders.

One of Mujuru’s allies, Didymus Mutasa, has vowed that, along with a group of disaffected liberation struggle figures, the new Zanu-PF would dethrone Mugabe from power and “unshackle Zimbabweans from their current chains of servitude”.

But others remain cautious, and question Mujuru’s ability to survive Zimbabwe’s bruising political landscape. Following years of state repression and a series of electoral defeats and subsequent factional splits, the opposition in Zimbabwe is at its weakest point for a decade.

Though Mujuru brings with her a welcome dose of excitement, she is yet to demonstrate her ability to build a true mass movement, and convert it into votes.

What does she bring to the political scene?

Mujuru asserts the mantle of authenticity when she speaks of liberation ideals in Zimbabwe: she was a freedom fighter in the quest for liberation and was married to the first black chief of the country’s national army, General Solomon Mujuru.

The failure of other opposition figures such as Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube to