FRESH details have emerged that South African doctors — who
performed a minor surgery on Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa (pictured) last
Wednesday — reportedly detected traces of palladium poison which had partly
damaged part of his liver, NewsDay has learnt.
The latest information was revealed on Mnangagwa’s return
after he was airlifted to South Africa, following a food poisoning scare at a
Zanu PF youth interface rally in Gwanda on August 11.
Highly-placed sources close to Mnangagwa told NewsDay at
the weekend, that South African doctors discovered that the Vice-President
consumed non-radioactive poison which could require a systems flush out over
the next two months.
“The VP ingested potent, non-radioactive poison which has
low quality palladium substances which caused minor liver damage and he had to
undergo surgery last Wednesday,” the source said.
Mnangagwa, tipped to succeed President Robert Mugabe, was
believed to have been poisoned by his Zanu PF rivals as the succession issue
turns nasty.
Zanu PF has two distinct factions —Team Lacoste which is
reportedly sympathetic to Mnangagwa and the G40 whose kingpins were reportedly
Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo and party commissar Saviour Kasukuwere,
which is rooting for First Lady Grace Mugabe to take over from her ailing
93-year-old husband.
The Vice-President was airlifted to South Africa following
a severe bout of abdominal discomfort, vomiting and diarrhoea as his allies
strongly suspected that he had been poisoned in the succession fights.
But, Information minister Christopher Mushohwe ruled out
the “poisoning” narrative, saying Mnangagwa could have been upset by “stale
food”.
“What the doctors think happened is that perhaps he ate
some stale food, which then means it is really not poison in the sense that the
people are trying to allege,” Mushohwe said at the weekend.
“I don’t know about that palladium, go to your sources, our
official statement stands.”
Mushohwe refused to explain why Mnangagwa would be flown to
South Africa for treatment due to contamination through eating stale food.
The latest incident came following a series of incidents
where Mnangagwa has been publicly chided by Grace and some women’s league
officials, who accused him of plotting to unseat Mugabe.
It also followed a chain of events which has blighted
Mnangagwa’s political path from the time he was appointed Vice-President in
2014.
Mnangagwa’s offices — despite having high profile security
— have been broken into a record six times, in the past years but the
perpetrators are yet to be nabbed.
In 2014, his Justice ministry’s office was broken into by
unknown persons, and again, shortly before Mnangagwa was appointed
Vice-President.
In another incident, cyanide was allegedly sprinkled in his
Zanu PF headquarters office, leaving his private secretary battling for her
life.
Police then set up a special task force to investigate the
mysterious break-ins and attempt to poison Mnangagwa but the findings were
never made public.
Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity
Charamba, could not shed light on what the investigations have yielded so far.
“I am not yet aware of the update on the investigations. I
will have to find out,” she said.
Mnangagwa in 2014 also escaped unhurt after being involved
in a road accident along Herbert Chitepo Avenue in Harare near the US Embassy.
Then Justice Minister, Mnangagwa was reportedly driving
alone when a minibus crashed into his Mercedes Benz vehicle. Newsday
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