Robert Mugabe claims assassins tried to kill new deputy, say Zimbabwe media
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Version 0 of 1. The political intrigue gripping Zimbabwe has taken a bizarre turn after Robert Mugabe claimed that assassins tried to kill his new deputy by sprinkling poisonous powder on his desk, state media has reported . The 90-year-old said the vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa had a narrow escape but his secretary inhaled the poison and is now in an intensive care unit in hospital, according to the Herald newspaper. The report on Thursday could not be independently verified and a spokesman for Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party said he was unaware of it. It came days after the president accused his previous deputy, Joice Mujuru, of plotting to assassinate him or overthrow him using witchcraft with a spell involving river beetles. Earlier this week Zimbabwe witnessed a “night of the long knives” when Mugabe announced the sacking of Mujuru and eight ministers. On Wednesday he appointed Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko as vice-presidents. Speaking at Zanu-PF headquarters in the capital, Harare, Africa’s oldest leader was quoted as saying: “We are aware of people who really want to harm us, physical harm also … The offices of comrade Mnangagwa were broken into last night and poisonous powder is spread all over the desk and so on. “That powder, which when the door opens and there is that flash of air will be blown up and then he would breathe it.” Mugabe added: “So it was not Mnangagwa who opened the door, it was the secretary [Catherine Magaya] who opened the door and poor girl there she was, she breathed it and she is a mess. She is in intensive care just now … Why? Why? Why? We want investigations to be done. I am just warning you that it’s not always those who smile at us who are our friends. Take care.” According to the Herald, police confirmed the incident and said an investigation is under way. The paper also quoted an unnamed source as saying: “When she [the secretary)] got into comrade Mnangagwa’s office to tidy it, she saw some substance on the table and started feeling dizzy. That is when she called at comrade Mnangagwa’s ministry advising them about the break-in and her condition. “A vehicle was immediately dispatched and took her to a private hospital in an unstable condition where she was admitted into the ICU. No visitors are allowed as her condition is bad.” But Simon Khaya Moyo, spokesperson for Zanu-PF, said on Thursday: “I’m not in Harare, I don’t know. I’ll only know when I get back to Harare.” Zimbabwe has long been notorious for political assassinations, often under the guise of car accidents. But in recent months the Herald has been used to push allegations of a plot to kill Mugabe that most commentators found preposterous. The conspiracy charge against Mujuru and her allies was also made by the first lady Grace Mugabe and the president himself. Mnangagwa, 68, dubbed “the crocodile” because of his stealth and ruthlessness, was previously justice minister and had been long been viewed as Mujuru’s main rival to succeed the president. A decade ago he too was accused by the president of planning a coup and was relegated to a junior cabinet post while his allies in Zanu-PF were purged. Mnangagwa’s appointment as first vice-president marks an impressive political comeback, but Mugabe indicated that he intends to retain his iron grip. “The two vice-presidents have no real big function except that they are my deputies,” he said. “I can give them work to do.” Grace Mugabe, 49, was put in charge of women’s affairs on the politburo, Zanu-PF’s top-decision making body, amid speculation that she could be a contender for her husband’s job one day. Former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said of Robert Mugabe: “The man has always played divide and rule. He has always tried to play the victim instead of the perpetrator. Everyone who happens to threaten or is perceived to be threatening his position is accused of committing a treasonous act, even if he doesn’t prove it. “In the current situation, the traction is that there is a whole conspiracy to remove him, and yet we know this is a falsehood, a complete falsehood. There is no basis why there should be all this agitation in the party like that.” |