THE grenade that exploded at a Zanu PF rally in Bulawayo was made in Russia, ZimLive.com can reveal today.
The blast went off just meters from President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other Zanu PF VIPs at White City Stadium on June 23, killing two aides of Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi.
Mohadi suffered leg injuries in the blast and is being treated in South Africa, along with several other survivors, among them Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri.
Security sources say at least four Russian investigators joined the inter-agency probe early this month, joining a team that includes the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Military Intelligence (MI) and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
Using sophisticated equipment, the Russians were able to map the flight of the grenade thrown from the crowd, at a distance of about 30 meters from the VIP tent. Its original flight would have taken it to within inches of Mnangagwa, who was leaving the rally, but for a small detour after it hit a tent rope and careered slightly away from his position.
Fragments collected from the scene positively identified the explosive device as an offensive fragmentation grenade made in the former Soviet Union. The type of grenade used is in active use by Zimbabwe’s military, according to the sources.
Early reports soon after the bomb explosion had suggested that military investigators suspected that the grenade may have come from the ZRP’s armoury – but it was quickly established that the police disposed of their grenade stocks in the late 1980s.
Investigators have viewed hours of video footage from around the stadium and interviewed dozens of people, but no suspect has been charged.
ZimLive.com understands that the investigation, in its initial stages, got bogged down in inter-agency suspicions which persist after the November 2017 military coup which ousted former President Robert Mugabe, rupturing the security order amid revelations that the police and CIO top brass had stoically stood with Mugabe until his fall.
The investigation almost descended into a farce when MI picked up two vagabonds who had strayed too close to Mnangagwa’s position at White City and tried to charge them with being responsible for the explosion. The men, Douglas Musekiwa and John Zulu, were later released without charge after nearly a week in detention.
Zimbabwe National Army spokesman Overson Mugwisi insists police are leading the probe, and referred questions about the investigation to the police.
The police, who have dangled a US$100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, say “investigations are still on-going”. “Once we have something concrete, we will be in a position to update the media and Zimbabweans and everyone else about the outcome,” according to ZRP national spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba.
Mnangagwa, in a BBC interview, said his “hunch without evidence” was that loyalists of former President Mugabe and his wife, Grace, were behind the attack.
His spokesman George Charamba has denied claims by internet conspiracy theorists that the bomb blast was an inside job, amid growing factional tensions between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga.
GRENADE FACTS
* They are typically thrown by hand
* With classic grenades, a removable safety pin prevents handle from being released: the safety lever is spring-loaded, and once the safety pin is removed, the lever will release and ignite the detonator, then fall off.
* Thus, to use the grenade, the lever is grasped (to prevent release), then the pin is removed, and then the grenade is thrown, which releases the lever and ignites the detonator, triggering an explosion within 3-5 seconds.
* Fragmentation grenades can cause damage in a radius of 30-35 feet
