Harare - Supporters of President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace have accused vice-president Joice Mujuru of being at the centre of a plot to assassinate the 90-year-old Zimbabwean leader, the Sunday Mail reported.
“That is a straightforward treason case,” prominent Harare lawyer Jonathan Samkange was quoted as saying.
“The police should take action, arrest the accused and charge them with treason.”
Zimbabwe's official Sunday Mail is controlled by a faction of Zanu-PF, led by Mujuru's arch-rival, Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa is believed to be behind Grace Mugabe's political rise. The minister was reportedly pushing for Mujuru to be sacked as vice-president at a Zanu-PF congress in December.
The Sunday Mail reported that former Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo was recorded making an assassination threat against Mugabe.
The newspaper further claimed that ruling party official Didymus Mutasa suggested that Mugabe would be “shot” if he sided with Mnangagwa's faction. Both Gumbo and Mutasa are supporters of Mujuru.
Mujuru was until this year one of the strongest contenders to succeed Mugabe, who has been in power in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
In July, however, the president's 49-year-old wife was nominated to lead the ruling party's women's league and she immediately launched a campaign to discredit Mujuru. - Sapa