HARARE – The First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa may have suvived an assasination attempt on Friday in an incident reported as a car accident that killed one and injured many of her aides.
A source in the President Mnangagwa’s last night revealed that this a more than just mere a car accident.
“The target was the First Lady herself and it is suspected that there was a security breach that tempered with the brakes of some of the cars on that convoy. She was lucky to survive because the intention was a high-speed pile-up or a multiple of brake-failures.
“This was a botched assasination attempt on the First Lady my brother. The President’s family is living in constant threat from multiples of political rivals. They don’t sleep on one place on successive nights,” our source revealed.
We could not verify reports of exchange of gun-fire at the scene. But sources said heavily armed airforce helicopters arrived at the scene and troops were deployed to secure the perimeter while some of the helicopters carried the injured to Harare.
On Saturday, terrified locals refused to releal full details of what happened, but sources said it was a bloody serious attempt on the First Lady’s life.
Former Higher Education Minister Jonathan Moyo on Twitter last year has revealed that “a shocking audio” of First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa ranting about alleged spying on her by the the army and a “loading coup” against her husband, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
In the audio clip Auxillia is heard pleading with the soldiers not to kill her because she has children and she is not a Mnangagwa by birth and blood.
She suggests that they must shoot President Mnangagwa who is their real target.
Mrs Mnangagwa can be heard shouting at senior military officers named as Murombo, Mhlanga and Manjoro.
On Saturday Mrs Mnangagwa visited the family home of her aide, Albert Vunganai (36), who passed away in an accident in the Mavhuradonha mountain range during a tour of duty to Muzarabani last Friday, more suspicions are coming out.
Earlier on Sunday Mrs Mnangagwa who is a former Central Intelligency operative herself visited her three other hospitalised aides, who were in the same vehicle as the deceased, and wished them a speedy recovery.
Mrs Mnangagwa paid homage to her aide and gave mourners an emotive account of how tragedy struck.
A visibly shaken Mrs Mnangagwa joined other mourners who collected the deceased’s remains from a city funeral parlour.
She spoke glowingly about Vunganai, whom she said worked hard and acted professionally in the discharge of his duties.
She wished Vunganai’s team strength in the face of calamity and praised his parents and church for bringing up such an “upright, honest and hard-working gentleman”.
“To the family, I want to say that I am here for you and I will ensure that each time you are in need of something I will assist were I can. Kuna mai nababa vaVunganai, I thank you for raising an upright child who did not betray your family’s image. He was an upright young man who was the envy of everyone,” the First Lady said while fighting back tears.
“He worked hard with his team, giving them direction and ensuring that everything was done to perfection.”
The First Lady showered praises on the deceased’s mother for having played her motherly role well in bringing up her child, who she said always demonstrated unimpeachable integrity.
Vunganai, she added, was more of a son than an aide to her.
The deceased’s father, Mr Calvin Vunganai, said he was humbled to have been visited by the First Lady in his moment of grief.
He chronicled his family history and described his son as a hardworker.
“I wish to thank the First Lady for coming to commiserate with us in this dark hour. I have no power over God and I will have to look after my grandchildren so that they can have a bright future,” he said tearfully.
The state media says tragedy struck as the First Lady and her team were on a tour of duty to Muzarabani, where they were distributing foodstuffs to the elderly and vulnerable families.
She also used the opportunity to raise awareness about the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which has killed thousands worldwide.
The country is currently under lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
However, this has exposed the elderly and vulnerable members of society, most of whom are food insecure, hence the First Lady’s interventions countrywide.
Vunganai was a principal security aide in the President’s Office having joined the organisation in 2008.
He leaves behind a wife Nancy and two children – Nyevero (9) and Jefferson (4).
He will be buried in Harare today.
Last year, a Commander of One Presidential Guard Infantry Battalion at State House, Lieutenant-Colonel Samson Murombo, was sidelined from commanding the parade at the Defence Forces Day commemorations on Tuesday this week after a nasty fallout with First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa.
In a heated exchange recorded in a widely circulated audio, Auxillia accused Murombo of snooping on her and the first family’s movements at a time of growing tensions between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and some sections of the military.
She also accused him of plotting to harm her and Mnangagwa. Murombo was at the receiving end of a verbal tirade by Mrs Mnangagwa who accused him of a number of issues spanning spying, trailing and an assassination plot.
In the recorded phone call leaked to various social media platforms, Auxillia begins by challenging Murombo to a physical showdown before later breaking down and asking him to spare her life because she is a woman with kids. Auxillia tells Murombo to go and kill Mnangagwa instead.
The audio brought to light the escalating brinkmanship between Mnangagwa and his ailing deputy Constantino Chiwenga as they are locked in a titanic struggle to effectively control the country’s security apparatus. Mnangagwa and Chiwenga have tried to put up a public posture of unity, but insiders say it is fake comradeship.
