The president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, on Saturday narrowly escaped being killed when a bomb exploded at a rally he had just addressed. The attempt on the president's life took place at a rally in the opposition stronghold of Bulawayo. It was in the run up to national elections which come up next month.
Mr Mnangagwa had just walked off the podium when the bomb went off ripping a hole in the stage. It sent bystanders scampering for cover.
49 people, including members of Mr Mnangagwa’s cabinet, were injured in the apparent attempt on the president's life. The 75-year-old leader was attending the rally before elections on July 30. He later visited the injured in hospital where he told state media: “I am used to these attempts.”
The president called the attempt on his life a cowardly attack. He said that he would not allow it to derail next month’s election.
The city where the assassination attempt took place is in the Matabeleland region where tens of thousands of mainly Ndbele people, the country’s second-largest ethnic group, were killed in a government-led army operation in the 1980s while Mr Mnangagwa was security minister.
Mr Mnangagwa, who is nicknamed “the Crocodile”, has tried to change his image as Mr Mugabe’s enforcer since coming to power.
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