By Jeffrey Muvundusi
BULAWAYO – There was frenzied media and public interest here yesterday as two men were brought to court for the attempted assassination of President Emmerson Mnangagwa during a campaign rally at White City Stadium last weekend.
Hordes of journalists and members of the public flocked to the Tredgold Magistrates’ Courts hoping to report and to catch a glimpse of the would-be assassins of the country’s leader.
Last Saturday’s bomb blast killed two security aides and also left at least 49 people seriously injured — including senior government officials.
The gathered news hounds were at the courts as early as 9am, even though the accused — Douglas Musekiwa and John Zulu — whose ages were not given — were only brought to court by police at 11am.
But there was to be further drama as the accused failed to re-appear in court — much to the disappointment of the gathered crowd and newsmen — after proceedings were twice adjourned by magistrate Adelaide Mbeure.
Prosecutor Charles Danda later told the court that the accused had left with the police who apparently wanted to apply for a warrant for further detention — ostensibly to allow them to complete their investigations.
According to the crime sheet that was seen by the Daily News, authorities are charging the two men with insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism.
“John Zulu was arrested without a warrant and … there are reasonable grounds of suspicion against him to the effect that he has committed the crime of … insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism,” read part of the warrant application which was made on Friday when Zulu and Musekiwa were arrested.
It was also not clear yesterday if police would abandon the Tredgold Magistrates’ Courts and try and seek the warrant for further detention at the nearby Western Commonage Magistrates’ Courts.
And despite the fact that the accused were detained on Friday, police released a statement then merely saying that they had made progress in their investigations — and didn’t mention the arrest of the two suspects.
“Zimbabwe Republic Police and other security forces wish to inform the nation that the joint investigations security team that was set up on June 24, 2018, is firmly on the ground and is diligently conducting extensive investigations into the White City Stadium bomb blast.
“The team is expertly sifting through available evidence … members of the public are advised to come forward with information that could aid the investigation.
“Meanwhile, we extend our appreciation to all those who continue to provide information for use by investigation teams,” police spokesperson Charity Charamba said in her statement then.
Mnangagwa escaped injury when an explosive device was detonated as VIPs left the stage at White City Stadium last weekend.
The 75-year-old Zanu PF strongman had just finished his address to thousands of party supporters who had packed the venue of his penultimate humiliation last year by former president Robert Mugabe and his then influential wife, Grace.
The explosive device, suspected to be a hand grenade — went off moments after Mnangagwa had just stepped off the stage — seriously injuring one of his deputies Kembo Mohadi and senior Cabinet minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, as well as a host of other people.
Both Mohadi and Muchinguri-Kashiri were later airlifted to South Africa for specialist treatment.
Two security aides died early last week from the injuries that they sustained from the attack, which Mnangagwa has since blamed on the vanquished Generation 40 (G40) Zanu PF faction — which was involved in a war of attrition with him in the ruling party’s deadly succession and tribal wars.
“I don’t know whether it was one individual — I would think it is broader than one person. I would think this is a political action by some aggrieved persons,” he told the British Broadcasting Corporation last week.
Asked further whether he trusted Grace or not, he retorted: “On what basis would I trust someone who was used by a cabal to say things that had no basis?”
The annihilated G40 was, before the military intervention, locked in a bitter war with Mnangagwa and his supporters for the control of both Zanu PF and the country.
Mugabe has openly disclosed his bitterness towards Mnangagwa and his administration following his ouster from power which was engineered by the military.
The military intervention, code-named Operation Restore Legacy triggered a chain of events which ended with the curtain falling on Mugabe on November 21 last year, when he resigned moments after Parliament had started damaging proceedings to impeach him.
The operation saw the nonagenarian and his then influential wife being placed under house arrest, while several Cabinet ministers linked to the G40 faction — which had coalesced around him and Grace — were also targeted. Daily News