The Zimbabwe National Army on Tuesday summoned Verenanda Langa a senior reporter with the NewsDay daily newspaper over a story she wrote last week suggesting that army chief General Constantine Chiwenga had been taken ill and airlifted to China for treatment.
Langa reported for questioning at the army’s Defence House headquarters in Harare. She was accompanied by Newsday assistant editor Wisdom Mudzungairi. Zimbabwe Union of Journalists secretary general Foster Dongozi confirmed the development in an interview with Radio VOP.
“I can confirm Langa was summoned to Defence House on Tuesday. It is in connection with a story she wrote saying that Chiwenga was ill and had flown to China to seek treatment. They wanted to know the source of the story. I have just spoken to her and she says they were not nasty to her.
“But to us, it still remains a matter of concern because it becomes difficult to separate a genuine desire to find out the source of the information and harassment,” he said. On Monday Chiwenga scoffed at reports of his illness saying stories written over his health were sensational and untrue.
“Why did they write such a sensational story, which is not true? If people were to be as sick as other people would want them to be, then everybody would have died a long time ago. Why is my absence, not anybody else’s, synonymous with being sick” asked Chiwenga.
All evidence however points to a major cover up. Last week even Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa confirmed Chiwenga had gone to China for medical attention and would be back in the country last Friday. Mnangagwa refused to confirm reports Chiwenga was airlifted and his condition was critical.
Mnangagwa said “What I know is that he had gone for medical checkups, we all go for medical checkups. Don’t you go for routine medical checkups yourself?” Sources who spoke NewsDay revealed that the army chief had fallen seriously ill and was immediately airlifted to China.
Air Force of Zimbabwe Commander, Air Marshal Perence Shiri, was said to be the acting Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. Last Thursday Chiwenga was absent from the Heroes Acre where brutal CIO boss Mernard Muzariri, was buried. Muzariri was one of the most brutal operators during the Gukurahundi Massacres but this did not stop Zanu PF making him a National Hero.
