President postpones graduation ceremony over security concerns

KELVIN JAKACHIRA

AMID growing political and security fears buffeting the leadership of President Emmerson Mnangagwa in light of the recent crash-landing of a presidential helicopter upon takeoff, his security has forced the Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) to move its 2024 graduation ceremony scheduled for 1 November from the Mashava campus to the main campus in Masvingo.

This comes as security concerns for Mnangagwa mount against a backdrop of recent events, including the crashing of a helicopter in which he was supposed to travel back to Harare from Masvingo where he had his birthday celebrations at the Great Zimbabwe Monument.

Prior to that, Mnangagwa was in March forced to abort landing at Victoria Falls International Airport after a mysterious bomb scare. In 2021, Mnangagwa’s chopper crash landed at Sandringham near Norton when he was coming from his Pricabe Farm in Sherwood, Kwekwe.

In 2018, Mnangagwa survived a grenade attack at a political rally at White City Stadium in Bulawayo.

This has built an environment of insecurity around him and a sense of heightened paranoia.

Mnangagwa was scheduled to cap GZU graduands next Friday, but it has now emerged that his security team expressed grave concerns the GZU graduation venue around the Mashava campus and its immediate vicinity.

Security sources told The NewsHawks that of major concern to Mnangagwa’s security team are the many underground tunnels around Mashava, an area which used to be the hub of asbestos mining.

Mashava had several mines dotted around the area which all used to produce asbestos, but are now gold and chrome mining areas artisanal miners.

Sources said the security team was also uncomfortable with the mountain range around the graduation venue, which provides an ideal place for camouflage, sabotage or sniping activities.

As a result, the graduation ceremony has now been moved to the main GZU main campus in Masvingo town to avoid taking a risk.

A security source said: “The graduation was supposed to be at the Mashava campus, but was moved for security reasons. The area has too many mining tunnels and there are too many mountains and hills around it. It’s a security problem and not safe for the President.

“After a security assessment the venue has been deemed unsafe for the President.”

The increasingly jittery Mnangagwa, for the first time since he came to power in 2017, skipped the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York where world leaders converged to address critical challenges in world governance exposed by recent global shocks. World leaders engaged at the annual high-level engagement under the theme,

“Leaving no One Behind [Mnangagwa’s favourite mantra]: Acting Together for Advancement of Peace, Sustainable Development and Human Dignity for Present and Future Generations”.

Mnangagwa withdrew at the last minute and assigned the then Foreign Affairs and International Trade minister Frederick Shava, Zimbabwe’s former UN ambassador, to attend and address the summit on his behalf.

The UN trip came amid surging political tensions fuelled by the recent presidential helicopter crash landing at Masvingo Airport.

The helicopter was set to fly Mnangagwa back to Harare from Masvingo province where he had celebrated his 82nd birthday at Great Zimbabwe, a day that he declared at the event Munhumutapa Day, which will now be commemorated annually across the nation. Munhumutapa Day is replete with historical significance, symbolism and imperial ambition, as Mnangagwa is trying to extend his rule beyond his 2028 constitutional term limit 2030, although he continues to distance himself from the campaign and manoeuvres by his supporters.

Mnangagwa’s bid to extend his stay in power has divided his already deeply fractured ruling party and the nation, making him politically insecure and vulnerable.

Mnangagwa has been through many scary moments since he came in through a coup in 2017:

• The 2018 Bulawayo White City grenade attack;

• the January 2019 state of emergency amid anti-government protests over economic issues which could have led to his ousting (this is confirmed in his biography),

• the 2021 Sandringham helicopter crash landing,

• the Victoria Falls bomb scare in March,

• and now Masvingo Airport helicopter.

With his political and security situation increasingly vulnerable, attending the UN meeting was a complete luxury for Mnangagwa.

A statement by Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba said: