Tragedy ·
An Explosion as Mnangagwa Left the Rally Stage
Zimbabwe’s president escaped unharmed from the June 2018 blast in Bulawayo, but others were injured. Its cause and responsibility had not been established as an investigation began.
Emmerson Mnangagwa had finished addressing thousands of supporters at White City Stadium in Bulawayo on 23 June 2018 when an explosion struck near the stage. Zimbabwe’s president was leaving the podium after a rally for the ruling ZANU-PF party. He was taken to safety unharmed, officials said. Several people around him were injured.
Witnesses interviewed by The Associated Press placed the blast just as Mnangagwa finished speaking and began to leave. Footage showed him waving to the crowd, turning from the podium and walking into an open-sided VIP tent. Seconds later came the explosion: people ducked and screamed as smoke billowed. State television immediately cut its broadcast. Medical staff rushed to treat the wounded.
Vice President Kembo Mohadi suffered a leg injury and was taken to a local hospital, state broadcaster ZBC reported. Other reported casualties included the wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, the environment minister and the deputy speaker of parliament. Security personnel were also hurt, according to the state-owned Herald newspaper. Contemporary reports gave differing injury totals, but both ZBC and Health Minister David Parirenyatwa reported that some people were seriously injured.
The rally was part of the campaign for the 30 July election, the first since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980 without Robert Mugabe. Mnangagwa had taken power in November 2017 after Mugabe stepped down under military pressure. He had pledged a free and fair vote and invited Western observers. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, had traditionally been an opposition stronghold.
State media called the explosion an assassination attempt. Mnangagwa, speaking afterward to the state broadcaster, said an object had “exploded a few inches away from me—but it is not my time.” Authorities had not disclosed what caused the explosion, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Presidential spokesman George Charamba said investigations were underway and that Mnangagwa was safe at Bulawayo State House.
Mnangagwa called the explosion a “senseless act of violence” and said it would not derail the election campaign. Opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Nelson Chamisa also condemned it. “Violence must have no place in our politics,” he wrote, offering prayers for the injured.
Al Jazeera correspondent Haru Mutasa reported that people at the scene said some of the injured had been carried in private cars to a local hospital. Mnangagwa later said he had visited some of the wounded there.