[All Africa] President Bob MuggsyMugabe
Octogenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case...
on Thursday made startling claims that the country's military top brass harboured a plot to stage a coup against his rule in new signs that Zanu PF's protracted succession politics was nearing the much-dreaded rapture.
The 93-year-old leader was speaking during a Zanu PF Women's League National Assembly meeting at the party headquarters in Harare.
President Mugabe lamented growing disunity within his beleaguered party while accusing unnamed party leaders of sending people such as current war veterans chair Christopher Mutsvangwa to make disparaging remarks about his rule through the media.
President Mugabe, who sounded despaired, spoke of clandestine meetings done by party leaders angling to succeed him.
He said there were "manoeuvres being done in the dark even of young people whom we had in the war to keep criticising us in the papers".
"It's not the likes of Mutsvangwa per se; they are not alone. They are being sent by those at the top," President Mugabe said without mentioning names.
He revealed his frustrations against the country's meddlesome military which he said has pulled all the stops to impose his successor when he was still there.
"The military, all, have no right, you know, to be interfering with the political processes, theirs is to support," said the veteran leader.
"They can give their own views within the Constitution and according also to the principle that politics shall always lead the gun and not the gun, politics, that one would be a coup.
"Now look at what is happening coming from the leaders (military) there, to say the President must now leave. He (President) must make way for who? Who has been anointed to take over?
"It's disgraceful to say 'I am the one now, the President must go', to beat your chest saying 'I am the one now'. No, we refuse, we refuse, we refuse!"