HARARE, March 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabehas said that former minister of state for information and publicity Jonathan Moyo's secretive meeting with an army leader would prompt fears that he might have harbored thoughts of staging a coup as he tried to wriggle his way to the top.

    Speaking on Wednesday at a campaign rally at Tsholotsho Business Center in Bulawayo province, Mugabe said that Moyo had clandestinely visited Army Commander Lieutenant General Phillip Sibanda in Tsholotsho on an unclear mission.

    "He (Moyo) did a lot of terrible things including meeting one of our commanders Sibanda," he said.

    "When I, together with (Vice President) Mai Mujuru, met him for one-and-a-half hours trying to convince him not to stand as an independent, we asked him why he went to meet Sibanda, whether he wanted to stage a coup in his favor and tears started flowing downhis cheeks," Mugabe said.

    Moyo was sacked as minister after he decided to stand as an independent in Tsholotsho -- a constituency in which the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) intended to field a woman candidate.

    Mugabe told Moyo that it was not wise to stand as an independent.

    "I advised him that the whole machinery of the party will fall on you and you will get demolished. You can never win against ZANU-PF," he said.

    He implored the people of Tsholotsho to vote for the ZANU-PF candidate, Musa Ncube, in the parliamentary elections next week.

    Earlier at another rally, Mugabe described the forthcoming parliamentary elections as a matter of life or death to preserve the country's sovereignty.

    Mugabe said Zimbabweans should turn up in their numbers on election day to reject attempts by Britain to recolonize Zimbabwe through the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

    He said Zimbabweans must vote for ZANU-PF to preserve the country's independence and to protect its values, which were underthreat from imperialists.

    The president said the MDC was being led by people who did not make any sacrifices during the liberation struggle and, as a result, do not value the meaning of independence and sovereignty. Enditem