FORMER Vice President Joice Mujuru says Zimbabweans “know exactly” how she “relates to issues that affect them” and can now “see” that it is her “time and chance” to lead.
The National People’s Party leader said this in an interview with the Newsweek magazine.
According to the report, Mujuru said she is not simply offering a “rehashed version” of Zanu PF politics.
“The Zimbabwean people have known me for a long time, from the days when I was the youngest minister. They know exactly how I’ve been relating to issues that affect their daily lives,” she said.
“They are seeing that it’s now my time, it’s now my chance. Because before, I’ve been subservient to lots of leaderships. But now that I will be the leader in my own right, surely… they think something better will come out of it.”
Mujuru also said she was open to a coalition to unseat President Robert Mugabe in next year’s elections—including with Pastor Evan Mawarire.
The report said Mujuru added that she would be open to working with Mawarire, whose anti-government social media campaign under the hashtag #This Flag mobilized thousands of Zimbabweans to protest against Mugabe last year.
On his return from the Unites States, Mawarire, who rose to prominence last year after mobilising thousands of Zimbabweans against President Robert Mugabe, indicated that he was open to contesting elections if a need arose.
But Mujuru, according to Newsweek, said it be difficult for the pastor “to make any impact in the election without a political party behind him”.
She said, “Mawarire’s network is not all over the country. He is just capturing those who are on social media, and that’s not the rest of Zimbabwe.”
On a possible collaboration with the pastor, Mujuru said, “I’ve no problem. He’s a democrat, we are all working for the same results, so he’s part of the group. He’s part of us.”
Also, Mujuru said she was “currently in talks with other opposition parties—including the MDC of former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai—about working together to depose the president”.
She said, “Right now those are the issues that we are discussing… we have a lot that we have put on the table.”
“We have a memorandum of understanding roadmap that we are planning to sign very soon,” added Mujuru.