There was a break-in at Tourism and Hospitality Industry deputy minister Tongai Mafidi Mnangagwa’s office in Harare on Monday night evoking the horrors of Zanu PF succession wars, where security breaches were reported at then Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office.
NewsDay established that there was a break-in at Tongai’s office at the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) building in Harare, where the suspects allegedly accessed the premises through the ceiling.
Tongai confirmed the incident to NewsDay when contacted for comment, adding that it was still unclear if any items were stolen.
“Someone or some people gained entry into my office at the ZTA House through the ceiling and left a visible sight that shows that they broke in,” Tongai said.
“They moved the panels over the weekend or Sunday night, I don’t know. We are just finding out now.
“We are still searching [to see] if they took anything. We have police at the scene right now who are checking.
“We are still investigating if there is something that is missing.”
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi yesterday confirmed the break-in, saying “investigations are being conducted in connection with a report of the alleged break-in” at Tongai’s office “between July 5 and 8”.
Two weeks ago, unknown suspects twice broke into the residence of one of Mnangagwa’s sons, David, and left behind bullets.
David is the Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion deputy minister.
According to reports, the first incident took place on June 23 at around 10pm and David, who was watching TV with his wife, called police officers after hearing unusual noise emanating from the ceiling.
The officers checked around the house, but found nothing suspicious.
Almost two hours later, David called the officers for the second time and asked them to check the roof, where they found a bag containing some of the deputy minister’s possessions, including torn documents and two Apple MacBook laptops and a MacBook iPad which appeared to had been deliberately damaged.
All the items had reportedly been taken from his bedroom.
David is also said to have informed officers that his 9mm Beretta pistol with 15 live cartridges, was missing, together with US$500 which was in the bag.
Two days later, an intruder left six cartridges, three outside David’s main bedroom door and three on the lawn outside the double-storey property on Camel Road.
His eight-year-old son stumbled upon the bullets the next morning when he went to his parents’ bedroom, where he saw a live cartridge on the floor next to the door.
Two days later, there was a fire incident at his residence.
Police confirmed the fire outbreak.
The law enforcement agents have not yet apprehended the suspects.
The latest break-in at Tongai’s office has evoked memories of previous break-ins at Mnangagwa’s offices at the height of Zanu PF succession battles.
Mnangagwa’s offices were broken into as many as nine times, causing serious tension in Zanu PF, then torn apart by factionalism, as the battle to succeed then President Robert Mugabe, now late, intensified.
Mnangagwa later succeeded Mugabe in a November 2017 military coup.
The break-ins at his offices, however, developed into cold cases, with some critics claiming they were stage-managed to elicit public sympathy.
Some observers linked the break-ins to Zanu PF succession wars, while others said they were stage-managed.
In 2014, cyanide was sprayed into Mnangagwa’s office at the Zanu PF headquarters. There are no other details on the case to date.
Addressing a gathering in Mutare last week, Mnangagwa said he was not going to seek a third term mandate.
Zanu PF party loyalists have been pushing for Mnangagwa to extend his term beyond 2028, triggering tension within the party.
The Constitution provides for a two-term limit, with Mnangagwa set to finish his in 2028.
Even if Mnangagwa had taken advantage of the ruling party’s majority and a pliant opposition in Parliament to tweak the Constitution and extend his stay, he could not be a beneficiary of the changes, according to the Constitution.
Indications are that there is a push by his loyalists to circumvent the provisions through either suspending the 2028 elections or separating the elections.
