Certainly character assassination ONE can be forgiven for thinking that Joice Mujuru, the former vice-president, is the most popular figure in Zimbabwe. And up to a point that would be right. Her picture regularly appears on the front pages of local newspapers, and she does have many supporters. She may even have more than anyone in the ruling ZANU-PF party apart from Robert Mugabe, the president, who continues to enjoy significant acclaim despite political repression and a worsening economy.Yet the reason Mrs Mujuru features so regularly in the papers, especially those controlled by Mr Mugabe, is a campaign to vilify her that has continued even after she was sacked in December. The Herald newspaper, a party mouthpiece, calls her “the putschist” in reference to allegations that she tried to seize power, a claim she firmly denies.Until last year Mrs Mujuru was one of two potential successors kept around by the 90-year-old president. Then in August his wife, Grace, an unpopular 49-year-old former typist, began denouncing her in public. For a while the president watched from the sidelines, giving rise to...
From The Economist: Middle East and Africa
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