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Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
President Mnangagwa says he suspects the G40 cabal, which has made numerous attempts on his life in the past, had a hand in the bomb attack that killed two people and left 47 others injured at his campaign rally at White City Stadium, Bulawayo.

The President also said he did not trust former First Lady Grace Mugabe whom he said was used as a tool by a cabal that wanted to eliminate him.

Three days after the bombing, pictures of Mrs Mugabe frolicking and showing a victory sign from the Far East went viral on social media.

In an interview with the BBC this week, President Mnangagwa said despite the attack, there was no need to press the panic button and place the country under security alert.

“My hunch, without evidence, is that people who are aggrieved by the new dispensation are the G40 cabal,” said President Mnangagwa.

“That is the logical and reasonable conclusion one may make until evidence is brought forward and until you pin down as to why this has happened, when you get the person and he then tells us his history and the purpose of what happened and why he did what he did.

“I think this is a political action by some aggrieved persons by the current democratic dispensation in the country.”
President Mnangagwa continued: “There is no need for us to say there will be a security clampdown or putting the country on security alert, no. This is a criminal activity. It doesn’t dent the stability of the country nor the law and order of the country but of course we must make sure the population is protected by making sure we hunt down these criminals. Only when we have got them are we going to be able to assess the extent to which the network spreads.”

President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe remained a stable country in the region safe for investment.
He said investors should not worry about an incident that occurred at a political rally.
“Let me assure that in the region Zimbabwe is most stable in my view in terms of law and order,” he said.

“(Investments) are extremely safe and I don’t think anybody would worry about an incident at a rally.”
Asked if he trusted Mrs Mugabe, President Mnangagwa said: “On what basis would I trust somebody who was used by a cabal to say things that have no basis at all?

“I felt sympathy for her because in my view she was politically immature but was used easily as a tool by those who wanted to get at me.”

On a lighter note, President Mnangagwa said he was soft as wool contrary to perceptions that he was a tough and feared man.

He said the new dispensation had brought several positive changes and that the populace should focus on what he had managed to deliver since he took over in November last year.

“What they (people) should believe is what I am doing, the actions that I am doing, not the perceptions they have,” said the President.

“In the past we had road blocks all over, I have removed those. I have opened political space. There are 133 political parties in the country. It’s factual. It’s not a perception.”