GOVERNMENT yesterday confirmed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa was supposed to board the chopper that crash-landed at an airstrip in Masvingo on Sunday.
Mnangagwa celebrated his 82nd birthday at Great Zimbabwe Monuments on Sunday.
His birthday coincided with the launch of the Munhumutapa Day, with critics saying the President viewed himself as part of the Munhumutapa dynasty.
Speaking during post-Cabinet media briefing last night, Information minister Jenfan Muswere confirmed that the helicopter that crashed was meant to fly Mnangagwa from Masvingo, but could not shed more light on the status of investigations into the accident.
“The helicopter was supposed to fly the President, Dr ED Mnangagwa, but experienced a technical fault and crash-landed. The President, Dr ED Mnangagwa, was not on board. The helicopter had crew members only on board and there were no fatalities,” he said.
“The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe is carrying out investigations and a statement will be issued at the appropriate time.”
This is not the first time that the country has recorded an army chopper crash.
However, investigations into the accidents have never been made public.
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In April 2021, three crew members and a child were killed after a military helicopter crashed into a house near Harare.
Two pilots, a technician and the child died in the training flight crash in Arcturus, 30km east of the capital.
In April 2022, another Air Force of Zimbabwe helicopter went down in Mhondoro near Chibhero Agricultural College.
Two months later in the same year, another chopper, an Mi-35 helicopter gunship, with five aircraft technicians on board crash-landed near oil expresser Surface Wilmar in Chitungwiza.
On hunger, Muswere said pertaining to the Urban Cash for Cereal Scheme, beneficiary registration as well as data cleaning, validation and paysheet generation for the wards whose registration process had been completed was underway.
“As at September 12, 2024, a cumulative total of 3 859,15MT [metric tonnes] mealie-meal/maize grain had been collected under the Emergency School Feeding Programme,” he said.
“Cabinet noted that the school-feeding programme has commenced well, with schools managing to provide hot meals for their learners.”
Muswere said Cabinet considered and approved the memorandum on the mop-up exercise for war collaborators and non-combatant cadres with a total of ZWG47,2 million already availed to the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle ministry for the exercise.
“Individuals not satisfied with the outcome of the vetting process can appeal in terms of section 9 of the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Act,” he said
“In terms of section 8(8) of the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Act, the names of the successful candidates shall be listed and published in the Government Gazette for 30 days after the conclusion of the vetting exercise to allow members of the public to make representations.”
Muswere said Cabinet also considered and adopted the Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill, which will see the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation minting millions in mandatory vehicle radio licensing.
“The Bill will also provide a new provision which will prohibit the Zimbabwe National Road Administration and every motor insurance company to sell a motor vehicle licence and motor insurance policy, respectively, to individuals without the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation current radio licence or an exemption certificate from the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, unless the vehicle to be insured is not equipped with a radio signal receiver,” he said.
“The Bill mandates the national broadcaster to broadcast 75% in local content. Furthermore, the Bill will provide for a licence with a sports channel to broadcast 50% local sports content in view of the fact that sporting events are universal and international sports may bring commercial value to licensees.”
