The investigation into the grenade attack on President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other Zanu PF officials during a rally at Bulawayo’s White City Stadium on June 23, 2018, has taken a surprising turn with the involvement of Chinese investigators. A team of detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) revisited the crime scene on November 27, accompanied by four Chinese experts.
However, their access to the stadium was initially blocked by City of Bulawayo security guards, as the police team lacked prior clearance from City Hall. Despite the standoff, the police forcefully entered the stadium. According to a council official, the Chinese investigators spent around two hours interviewing witnesses and documenting details from the scene.
Although National Police Spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi stated he had no information regarding the presence of Chinese investigators in Zimbabwe, sources indicated that the team focused on interviewing individuals who were present during the explosion. They also made detailed notes and sketches.
Earlier investigations into the attack, which occurred only six months after Mnangagwa’s presidency following a military coup that ousted Robert Mugabe, had yielded little progress.
However, authorities have a working theory that the grenade, identified as an offensive fragmentation device made in the former Soviet Union, may have originated from the military, as this type of grenade is still in active use by Zimbabwe’s armed forces.
Despite initial suspicions that the grenade may have been taken from the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s (ZRP) armoury, it was confirmed that the police had disposed of their grenade stock in the 1980s.
The explosion, which killed two aides of Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, occurred just meters from Mnangagwa and other Zanu PF VIPs. Mohadi and several others, including Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri, were injured and received treatment in South Africa.
Mnangagwa had previously speculated that former President Mugabe’s loyalists, including his wife Grace, were behind the attack, though he admitted he lacked evidence.
In August 2018, he stated that the authorities had identified the culprits but chose to wait until after the election before addressing the matter.
