BULAWAYO – Vice President Kembo Mohadi was curiously absent when President Emmerson Mnangagwa landed in Bulawayo on Thursday – triggering fresh speculation about his health.
Mohadi’s Matabeleland South Province is hosting the annual Zanu PF conference in Esigodini, and as the most senior official in the province, the former Beitbridge East MP was expected to receive Mnangagwa at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport.
Instead, it was Vice President Constantino Chiwenga who welcomed Mnangagwa to Bulawayo when he landed some 20 minutes ahead of his appointed time of landing.
The ailing Mohadi, 69, spent over a month in South Africa after suffering leg injuries when a bomb exploded during a Zanu PF rally at White City Stadium in Bulawayo on June 23 this year.
Nick Mangwana, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, said he had no information on Mohadi’s whereabouts but promised to check with his office. He had not responded to our enquiry by the time of publication.
The annual Zanu PF conference is taking place at Mzingwane High School in Esigodini.
Mohadi, as the most senior Zanu PF leader in the host province, is expected to take centre stage.
“It’s his moment in the sun, which makes it highly unusual that he would fail to welcome Mnangagwa at the airport,” a senior Zanu PF official told ZimLive.
The Zanu PF conference began with a Zanu PF politburo meeting in Harare on December 11, which Mohadi attended, followed by a central committee meeting on December 12 at the party’s headquarters.
Mnangagwa will make his first appearance in Esigodini on Friday, with the party’s 3,000 delegates set to deliberate into Saturday afternoon. – ZimLive
