‘Cabinet ministers, Zanu PF officials detained’

By Tendai Kamhungira

A number of Cabinet ministers and senior officials in government and the ruling Zanu PF party considered to be part of President Robert Mugabe’s inner circle have either been put under house arrest or detained by the army, which has taken charge of the country’s affairs.

While the detentions could not be confirmed by the military, reports from international media organisations such as the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation and Reuters say the military detained Finance minister Ignatius Chombo, Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere and Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo.

The trio was not reachable for comment yesterday.

A key ally of Mugabe and Zanu PF youth league secretary Kudzanai Chipanga was also said to have been arrested yesterday.

Unconfirmed reports also claimed yesterday that Mugabe’s nephew, Patrick Zhuwao who was recently made the minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare has skipped the country and so has Foreign Affairs minister Walter Mzembi, who was said to be on a working visit in Zambia.

Throughout the day yesterday, speculation was rife that many of Mugabe’s close associates had gone into hibernation.

This follows the army’s announcement yesterday that they had taken over the levers of government and that their mission was to root out “criminals” around Mugabe.

The detentions, however, appear to be targeted at influential members of the Generation 40 (G40) camp, whose rivalry with the Team Lacoste faction has resulted in the current stalemate.

Proponents of the G40 faction, among them First Lady Grace Mugabe, Moyo and Kasukuwere have repeatedly accused Team Lacoste leader, fired vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, of seeking to grab power by force.

This led to the sacking of Mnangagwa last week by Mugabe on allegations of plotting to unseat him from power using unconstitutional means. Following Mnangagwa’s sacking, it became apparent that the G40 camp was now pushing for Grace to succeed the deposed vice president — a development that did not go down well with the military and a section of war veterans who preferred Mnangagwa to succeed the incumbent.

The army’s action followed mounting speculation throughout the day that a coup was underway against Mugabe, after the head of the armed forces General Constantino Chiwenga threatened to “step in” over the sacking of influential Zanu PF figures with liberation war backgrounds.

Yesterday, Zimbabweans woke up to discover the military was running the show and had even seized State television to announce that it had begun a manhunt for close Mugabe allies whom they accused of causing “social and economic suffering” of Zimbabweans.

The army has, however, insisted that Mugabe and his family are safe, adding that they had not carried out a coup but that they were targeting “criminals” surrounding the Zimbabwean head of State.

“It is not a military takeover of government,” army spokesperson Major General Sibusiso Moyo said in a televised statement.

“We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice. As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy,” he said.

Government spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo, who also doubles up as Zanu PF’s information tsar, refused to comment on the situation in the country yesterday.

Police spokespersons Charity Charamba and Paul Nyathi were not immediately available for comment as their phones were repeatedly unreachable. Daily News