Soon after the departure of a South African negotiation
team dispatched by the Southern African Development Community‚ unconfirmed news
spread like a veldt fire that President Robert Mugabe may have agreed to a
compromise.
However‚ for ministers aligned to a faction called G40‚ it
was a case of hide and seek with military intelligence that had already
captured the Minister of Finance Dr Ignatius Chombo‚ whose guard was killed
protecting his boss. That sent a clear message that the military was on the
warpath on Tuesday morning after announcing the takeover.
Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao‚ the Minister of Public
Service‚ Labour and Social Welfare‚ was in Argentina when the army struck. He
chose to stay put there.
Two leading figures in the faction of Professor Jonathan
Moyo and Savior Kasukuwere‚ who were widely credited with blocking former
Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ascent to power‚ kept a low profile and the
army failed to get them.
When the army arrived at Moyo and Kasukuwere’s houses they
opened fire but the two ministers were long gone‚ having sought refuge at
President Robert Mugabe’s private residence‚ the “Blue Roof” in Borrowdale‚ the
richest suburb of Harare. The president‚ his wife and children were also holed
up there.
The Vice-President‚ Phelekezela Mpoko was‚ was said to be
in Dubai at the time of the “coup”.
“Basically there is no government in Zimbabwe. Cabinet
failed to seat on Tuesday because all ministers chose to stay away fearing for
their lives‚” said a senior government employee.
Foreign Affairs Minister Walter Mzembi was in Zambia on
official business. He said he would not go back to Zimbabwe until normalcy had
returned.
“It really can’t get to the bottom of my heart that a
country that I carried the cross for at the UNWTO (World Tourism Organisation)
elections could be seeking to make me a fugitive‚” Mzembi said.
Minister of Sports‚ Art and Culture‚ Makhosini Hlongwane‚
only managed to leave the country for Mozambique on Thursday morning. It was an
unfortunate case for Masvingo provincial minister Paul Chimedza who was
arrested at an army roadblock on his way to South Africa.
“More ministers will go into hiding fearing that they could
be linked to G40. The army was clear that those ministers are ‘criminal
elements’‚” added the source. Times
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