Furious Mnangagwa held Mugabe by collar
Sensational details leaked by the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks website contains claims that Zimbabwe’s Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa “grabbed President Robert Mugabe by the lapels” during a heated argument in 2008.
A leaked diplomatic cable by former US ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee claims Mnangagwa and Mugabe squared off over the latter’s plans to give away the Home Affairs portfolio to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party during negotiations for a power sharing government.
In the cable McGee wrote: “Mugabe leads a fractured party and he is trying to satisfy key individuals and groups. Rumours circulated last week that he and Emmerson Mnangagwa were involved in a heated argument over the possibility of ceding Home Affairs to the MDC.
“According to these rumours, Mnangagwa grabbed Mugabe by the lapels at which point Mugabe’s bodyguards forcibly subdued Mnangagwa, injuring him to the point that he was hospitalised.
“We have been unable to confirm the physical altercation; nevertheless, there appears to have been a serious rift between Mugabe and Mnangagwa over the allocation of ministries. Mnangagwa is loathe to allow any of the security apparatus to pass to the MDC.”
McGee added that “defence forces chief Constantine Chiwenga and Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono are opposed to the MDC assuming responsibility for Home Affairs. They fear the ministry and police would investigate them for corrupt activities.”
