In an interview at her Harare home, Marry Chiwenga said she was undergoing treatment for injuries sustained from the bomb attack which apparently targeted President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
She also denied claims that she was bleaching her skin together with her husband, saying the hand injuries were the result of the Bulawayo bombing.
At least 49 people, including both of Zimbabwe’s vice presidents Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, were injured by the explosion that occurred close to the VIP podium immediately after Mnangagwa finished his speech.
Still looking vivacious, it was clear she was not fully healed, with hands wrapped in bandages that extended up her slightly-swollen hands to her elbows.
She said her husband — who was also admitted at a top South African hospital where he was discharged last Wednesday and flew back home via Manyame Airbase — was also on the mend.
The public acknowledgment is a rare disclosure of a health matter in the top echelons of the state.
Ailing top officials usually treat such issues as grave national security secrets, a closely guarded secret even as they appear frail in public.
In the rare interview with the Daily News on Sunday, she said the couple were taking care of each other as they recover from the condition.
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga & wife Marry Chiwenga
Marry said they were doing fine and are not in critical condition as claimed on social media.
“Why are people concerned about my sickness in that way? They should instead be praying for me. Was I not part of the bomb blast in Bulawayo where some people even lost their lives? People should be asking how their families are carrying on,” she told the Daily News on Sunday.
“I have these bandages on but my hands are no longer swollen, the bandages are to cover the wounds from infection. Yes, my hands and legs were affected during that bomb blast, but I am recovering well. I feel fine. I even go to work and I even drive, I have carried on living as I used to. But you can’t expect the effects to just disappear.
“I read somewhere where they were saying the Health minister (deputy minister John Mangwiro) was babysitting us. No, we do not need anyone to take care of us. He (Chiwenga) is taking care of me and I am taking care of him,” she said of her husband.
The Daily News on Sunday also asked her about the woman who claimed to be Chiwenga’s niece who got a “prophecy” from South Africa-based prophet Alph Lukau, claiming that Chiwenga was a victim of witchcraft.
Marry said they did not even know the woman and that they did not have relatives in South Africa.
“No, she’s not a relative, I do not know her and the VP does not know her, and to be honest I didn’t see any prophecy there because the woman had said the name.
Whatever he said about witchcraft I don’t know, I know what the doctors told us,” Marry said. Daily News.
