Robert Mugabe`s ex-deputy Mujuru sets up rival Zimbabwe party


Zimbabwean former vice president Joice Mujuru announced Wednesday she was forming a new party to challenge President Robert Mugabe`s all-powerful ZANU-PF, in a move that could shake up the country`s politics.
Mujuru, who is the widow of Zimbabwe`s first post-independence army general, was fired from the government and the ruling ZANU-PF party in December 2014.
Her ousting came after a campaign by Mugabe`s wife Grace denigrating Mujuru and accusing her of corruption, fomenting division in the party and plotting to topple Mugabe.
Many of her allies and perceived sympathisers met a similar fate in a party purge.
Mujuru, 60, who was replaced as vice president by long-time Mugabe ally Emmerson Mnangagwa, denied all Grace`s accusations.
She was a guerrilla fighter during Zimbabwe`s 1970s liberation war before rising to become vice president in 2004.