The two suspects fingered in connection with the June 23
White City Stadium bombo attack — Douglas Musekiwa and John Zulu — whose ages
were not given — are living in perpetual fear and have been ostracised by the
communities they live in.
The bomb blast, which authorities say was targeted at
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, killed two security aides and left at least 47
other people seriously injured — including senior government officials.
Mnangagwa escaped injury when an explosive device was
detonated as VIPs left the stage at White City Stadium.
The 75-year-old Zanu PF strongman had just finished his
address to thousands of party supporters who had packed the venue of his
penultimate humiliation last year by former president Robert Mugabe and his
then influential wife, Grace.
The explosive device, suspected to be a hand grenade — went
off moments after Mnangagwa had just stepped off the stage — seriously injuring
one of his deputies Kembo Mohadi and senior Cabinet minister Oppah
Muchinguri-Kashiri, as well as a host of other people.
Both Mohadi and Muchinguri-Kashiri were later airlifted to
South Africa for specialist treatment.
On Saturday June 30, there was frenzied media and public
interest here as the two men were brought to court for the attempted
assassination of Mnangagwa.
Southern News tracked down the suspects to their base in
Old Pumula suburb to try and hear out their story.
The Daily News caught up with Zulu, a popular tout at the
Old Pumula taxi rank. However, efforts to get hold of his other colleague
Douglas, a taxi driver, were not successful.
One thing that could be easily noticed was that Zulu is now
living in fear and is now being haunted by the “bomb”.
“We were released last Monday (July 2). The police said we
should go home as they are still conducting further investigations and might
summon us back if they find anything on us,” Zulu, who looked uneasy throughout
the interview, told Southern News.
“We were picked up by police in plain clothes a week after
the bombing incident. They found me here at the shops where I operate as a
tout. They told me I was under arrest and they asked me where
they could find my colleague, Douglas, and I took them to his place,” he said.
Zulu admitted that they were part of the Zanu PF star rally
at White City Stadium on June 23.
“On the day, we had nothing much to do so went to ... the
rally and we were seated in the front but as for that bomb thing we saw
nothing.”
Asked how they became prime suspects in the matter, Zulu
said:
“They (police) showed us a camera where we were captured at
the rally and it was us in the pictures. So, they tracked us using those
pictures until they found me at the shops because I am well-known here so it
was easy for them to get me.”
During the incarceration, Zulu said they were only
interrogated on the matter but “we were never at any point tortured or enforced
to admit to the crime.”
But above all, the allegations over such a serious crime
which could even attract a death sentence on conviction, has just left him
shattered.
“This thing has destroyed my life, no one wants to employ
me now as they see me as a criminal. All the people I used to work with are now
distancing themselves from me. And you know how it is when people start fearing
associating with you,” he narrated.
“The worst thing is that we are living in fear because the
police told us not to talk about this matter and we now feel that wherever we
are, we are being stalked.”
Midway in the interview, his relatives interrupted before
they ordered the news crew to leave as they have been persecuted enough over
the matter.
Mnangagwa has since blamed the attack on the vanquished
Generation 40 (G40) faction of Zanu PF — which was involved in a war of
attrition with him in the deadly battle to succeed then president Robert
Mugabe.
“I don’t know whether it was one individual — I would think
it is broader than one person. I would think this is a political action by some
aggrieved persons,” Mnangagwa told the BBC then.
Asked further whether he trusted Grace or not, he retorted:
“On what basis would I trust someone who was used by a cabal to say things that
had no basis?”
The annihilated G40 was, before the military intervention,
locked in a bitter war with Mnangagwa and his supporters for the control of
both Zanu PF and the country. Daily News
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