The reason Mujuru remains untouched – for now – is that, as usual, Zanu (PF) is looking for legitimacy in an election which has already been marred by no-confidence votes and intimidation, even before it has begun. To imprison Mujuru would make her a martyr, which would endear her even more to her supporters. To bar her completely from participating in the party’s elections will look, to outsiders, like blatant cheating. So the solution is to weaken her – sort of like weighing down an athlete with bricks – and then allowing her to run in the December congress.
Mugabe is aware that Emmerson Mnangagwa leads a faction in Zanu (PF). What leaves most people puzzled is why – among all these accusations of treason and ‘fanning factionalism’ – all the Mnangagwa allies remain untouched by these no-confidence votes.