Zimbabwe: Who is behind the explosion of the Mnangagwa rally?
Two of those seriously injured on Saturday, June 23 in the explosion of President Mnangagwa’s meeting in Bulawayo have died.
Perence Shiri, Minister of Agriculture and former Chief of the Air Force, warns that the culprits, whom he called “terrorists”, are “playing with fire”.
The Marshal has not named anyone, but many Zimbabweans believe he was targeting rivals in the ruling Zanu-PF party.
Who is behind the explosion at Saturday’s meeting in Bulawayo? Several theses circulate.
Zenzele Ndebele, director of Cite, an NGO in Bulawayo, was on the scene of the explosion on Saturday. He contextualizes the words of Perence Shiri in this post-Mugabe period that has just opened.
“The former marshal is part of the pro-Mnangagwa faction. He was one of the soldiers who took part in the coup that brought him to power. He sits in the government. Everything indicates that his warning is for his former colleagues, those who support Robert Mugabe even today. They still do not accept, obviously, its shelving. We know that some of them have launched their own political party, the National Patriotic Front, which will participate in the elections at the end of July. In his ranks is former Minister Jonathan Moyo, a pro-Mugabe, who has already said that “blood will flow” in Zimbabwe if the international community does not intervene to get rid of Mnangagwa. These people are still very bitter,” he told RFI reporter.
For President Mnangagwa who succeeded Robert Mugabe in November in a coup, the case is also heard. The attack on Bulawayo was aimed at him. And when he says he knows who is behind this assassination attempt, many Zimbabweans think of nostalgia for the Mugabe era.
“The president has just said that he knows who his enemies are, he explained that he did not intend to declare a state of emergency. And that seems unlikely because the president wants the elections to run smoothly at all costs, especially since he expects to win! He will do everything to make sure everything goes well,” says Zenzele Ndebele.
This is also why Zimbabwe rolled out the red carpet for election observation missions. For the moment, nothing less than 46 missions are expected during the presidential and legislative elections of July 30.
For President Mnangagwa, an election campaign worthy of the name is still the best way for him to validate, not his arrival, but his stay in power.
Other theses circulate about the authors of this attack: that of a possible revenge against the current president for his role in the massacres of the Matabeleland in the 1980s. Another hypothesis: that of an action programmed by his against camp for justify for example a recovery in hand of the security apparatus.
