Mugabe skirts Zanu-PF rift

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe opened parliament yesterday steering clear of a succession struggle raging in his Zanu-PF party following his wife's sensational attempt to force his deputy out of office.

As the 90-year-old spoke to the newly constituted assembly, dozens of Zanu-PF members sang his praises outside the building - and taunted other factions and their allegiances.

Mugabe, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, said he would direct investment in infrastructure, offer free fertiliser and seed to farmers, and revise tax and labour laws to improve an investment climate hobbled by his nationalist policies.

He made no direct reference to the succession battle in his party, which intensified this month when his wife, Grace, attacked Vice-President Joice Mujuru and accused her of plotting to oust Mugabe at a party congress in December.

Mujuru, Mugabe's deputy both in the party and the government for the last decade, has been a front-runner to succeed Mugabe but faces a stiff challenge from Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, an enduring politician known as "The Crocodile".

Analysts say Mugabe has neutralised challengers during his more than three decades in power by playing Zanu-PF factions off against each other and might be doing the same with his wife's sudden emergence into frontline politics.

Mujuru, a battle-hardened veteran of the 1970s "liberation war", won Mugabe's support as deputy in 2004 but now appears to be in a precarious position.

Throughout the ceremony, Grace exchanged no words with Mujuru, who sat next to Mnangagwa, smiling and sharing jokes with him. She has made no formal response to Grace's accusations.

The political infighting is against a stark backdrop of economic strife, with impoverished Zimbabwe starved of foreign investment and donor funding.

Ambitious election promises made by Mugabe a year ago, including the creation of millions of jobs by 2018, have backfired. The Mugabe policy of forcing foreign companies to sell majority stakes to locals has hammered investment and output

In his 25-minute speech, the veteran leader threatened action against blacks who derailed his empowerment drive - known locally as "indigenisation" - by acting as fronts for foreigners.

"It is depressing that some of our people have turned themselves into mere fronts for foreign investors, thus defeating the fundamental objective," Mugabe said.

"Decisive action shall indeed be taken to address these negative developments."