A fire broke out Friday night at Finance Deputy Minister David Mnangagwa’s Borrowdale home, deepening the mystery that has come in the form of indirect threats on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son.
Police confirmed the incident in a Saturday statement but did not give further details on what transpired.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police confirms that investigations are currently underway in connection with a fire incident which occurred at the house of the Deputy Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Honourable Kudakwashe David Mnangagwa on 28 June 2024 at 23.30PM,” police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said.
Sources said when the fire started, firefighters were called to put it out.
The fire is said to have reignited on Sunday morning.
The fire incident follows a couple of mysterious threats against the 35-year-old top government official’s and his family with law enforcement authorities still searching for clues on who the perpetrators could be.
On June 25, an intruder whom police dubbed the “ghost raider” left six cartridges – three outside Mnangagwa’s main bedroom door and three on the lawn outside the double storey property on Camel Road which is guarded by armed police officers.
The first breach took place on June 23 at around 10PM when Mnangagwa, who was watching TV with his wife, called the police officers after hearing unusual noises coming from the ceiling.
The officers surveyed the house and the perimeter but saw nothing suspicious.
Mnangagwa called the officers a second time at around 11.50PM and asked them to check the roof. There, officers found a bag loaded with some of the deputy minister’s possessions including torn documents and two Apple MacBook laptops and a MacBook iPad which appeared to have been deliberately damaged.
The deputy minister, according to sources, said all the items had been taken from his bedroom. He also informed officers that his gun, a 9mm Beretta pistol with 15 live cartridges was missing, together with US$500 cash which was in the bag.
In the kitchen, the intruder had retrieved a loaf of bread from the kitchen unit and dumped it on the floor near the door.
In one final bizarre act, the intruder went to the garage and cut the driver’s head rest of Mnangagwa’s parked Land Rover Defender.
Police swarmed the property on June 24, including a canine unit, but there was no trace of the suspect, and no evidence of any forced entry.
And then, just after 7.30AM on June 26, the deputy minister’s eight-year-old son went to his parents’ bedroom and as he was about to knock on the door he saw a live cartridge lying on the floor and police were called.
Investigators managed to locate three cartridges within two meters of the door, and a further three on the lawn outside the property.
President Mnangagwa is yet to make any public comment on the mysterious threats against his son.
The Zimbabwean leader has also been a target of similar mysterious attacks on his own life when he was still deputy president.
The most deadly was during his 2018 election campaign rally at White City stadium in Bulawayo after a bomb explosion missed him by inches but went on to claim their lives of two security personnel and further caused injuries to some of his aides. ZimLive.
