Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has accused his vice president of colluding with the US embassy in the country in an assassination plot against the nation’s top leader.

The serious allegation by Mugabe was announced in the capital, Harare, on Saturday as he addressed a crowd of nearly 12,000 members of the ruling Zanu-PF party in a massive tent in an open field, where the party held a three-day congress.

Mugabe stated during his speech that government intelligence officers had followed Vice President Joice Mujuru to the US Embassy in Harare, where she allegedly held secret talks to plot for his assassination.

"I am open to competition, but not when it involves taking me out the Kabila way," Mugabe said, referring to former leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Laurent Kabila, who was assassinated in 2001 by one of his bodyguards.



Meanwhile, Mujuru, who was once a freedom fighter in Mugabe's guerrilla army, is now considered a political outcast accused of conspiring with foreign agents for violent removal of the nation’s president.

"I met Joice when she was a young kid in the war. I strengthened her and even pushed her to get an education until she got a doctorate," Mugabe added.

This is while Mujuru, who became a cabinet minister at the age of 25 when Mugabe was elected president in 1980, was ousted as the party's vice president during the party congress.

During the party event, the nation’s First Lady Grace Mugabe was also officially declared as the leader of Zanu-PF women's league.

The party congress further re-elected the 90-year-old Mugabe to another five-year term as chairman of the party and authorized him to personally pick his vice president and other top party positions.

Meanwhile, Mugabe further stated during his speech that his wife Grace pushed him to appoint Mujuru as vice president in 2004.

He also announced plans to pick Mujuru's successor later this week and reassured the cheering audience that Mujuru and her allies, including spokesman Rugare Gumbo, will not be considered for the post.

Gumbo was also suspended from his position.

The front-runner for the next vice president is Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who reportedly suffered the same fate as Mujuru a decade ago, though he is now back in favor.

Meanwhile, Mujuru will remain the country’s vice president for the time being, as Mugabe needs parliament's approval to remove her from government.

She did not participate in the party congress.