‘GRACE MUGABE ALLIES 'MAY HAVE TRIED TO KILL ME'
HARARE - Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reportedly said that a group linked to former first lady Grace Mugabe could be behind an explosion that rocked a stadium where he addressed his Zanu-PF supporters on Saturday. Mnangagwa escaped unhurt, but at least 49 people were injured, while two others were pronounced dead two days after the incident.
According to BBC, Mnangagwa said he suspected that a group called the Generation 40 (G40), which supported Grace for presidency, was responsible for the explosion.
He, however, said that investigations were still under way and that he expected arrests to be made soon.
Mnangagwa's remarks came a day after a picture of Grace flashing a V-sign went viral on social media.
The state-owned Herald newspaper seemed to link Grace's Vsign to Saturday's incident.
The paper published the picture in its Tuesday edition and wrote: "This picture of former First Lady Grace Mugabe flashing the V-sign was circulating on social media yesterday three days after the attempted assassination of President Mnangagwa in Bulawayo. Ms Mugabe was with her ailing husband in Singapore. Condemnation of the terrorist attack has been widespread."
Grace's husband, Robert Mugabe was forced out of power last year when the military briefly took over. This was after Mugabe fired Mnangagwa, then
his deputy, as tensions between Mnangagwa and Grace to succeed him intensified.
Widespread suspicion that Grace intended to succeed her husband as the country's leader was a contributing factor to the political transition, and the army's involvement in it, said BBC.
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa is reportedly set to make sweeping changes in his security team after he escaped with his life when a bomb exploded at a political rally in an apparent assassination bid.
According to Daily News, there would be a thorough review of his security teams. The report said that there would be an "overhaul of security agencies’ advance work, protective details, better radio technology and more agents would now be at the president’s side at all times."