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Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa blames rally attack on Grace Mugabe faction
News & Trends •
source63 emmerson mnangawa the president of zimbabwe has blamed an apparent assassination attempt at a political rally last weekend on a faction led by grace mugabe the wife of the ousted president robert mugabe1 the 75-year-old leaderthat led to the resignation of mugabe after a rule of 37 years stopped short of blaming the former first lady directly1 killed two people and injured 49. both vice-presidents were slightly injured in the blast as were several other top officials in the ruling zanu-pf party1 manangagwa earlier said the attack had been calculated to achieve a bloodbath and destabilise the ongoing electoral programme1 the upcoming parliamentary and presidential election is the latest turning point in the most tumultuous few months in almost four decades of zimbabwes political history1 though the poll on 30 july is realistically a two-horse contest between zanu-pf against the movement for democratic change mdc the longstanding opposition more than 20 candidates are contesting the presidency1 my hunch without evidence is that the people who aggrieved by the new dispensation are the g40 so that is the logical conclusion mnangagwa told the bbc1 i think this is a political action by some aggrieved persons by the current democratic dispensation in the country. he added1 mnangagwa told bbc in an interview that he believed the so-called g40 faction was responsible for the grenade thrown at the podium in the white city stadium in bulawayo on saturday afternoon1 the november takeover came after mnangagwa was sacked as vice-president by the ailing 94-year-old autocrat a move that he and zimbabwes powerful military saw as clearing the way to power for the 54-year-old first lady and her supporters1 a number of previous alleged assassination attempts have been blamed on the g40 by mnangagwa and his supporters including an apparent poisoning last year. no evidence has emerged to implicate any individual or group1 mnangagwa told the bbc thatwas politically immature and was easily used by a tool who wanted to get at me1 many of those who were close to the former first lady have fled1 opposition leaders infear the bombing may serve as a pretext for aby the government or the military in the southern african state1 manangwa said such concern was unfounded1 there is no need for a security crackdown this is a criminal activity but of course we must make sure the population is protected and only when we have got them are we going to be able to assess the extent to which the network is spread1 there is much bitter history between the current presidentand a close aide to mugabe for decades and the g40 faction1