Mnangagwa office break-in, army joins the crack team

A crack team comprising specialists from all the country's security agencies has been set up to investigate the break-in at Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa's offices in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday night.

This was the fourth time the Acting President's office had been broken into.

The probe unit, composed of members from the police, military forces and Central Intelligence Organisation, is conducting a scientific analysis to establish the identity of the perpetrators and their motive.

Police chief spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba yesterday said: "We are doing everything possible to establish the (identity of the) perpetrators and their motive.

"That is why specialists from all the security sections have been brought in to investigate what happened.

"From the part of the police, a team of experts is working on the case together with officials from other security departments. This team is doing proper scientific analysis of the incident. We will leave no stone unturned to make sure the perpetrators are brought to book."

Snr Asst Comm Charamba said it would be premature for her to reveal progress of the investigations, since the investigators were still on the ground.

She said high on the investigators' priority was to establish how the intruders got access into the ceiling of the office.

All in all, intruders have broken into Acting President Mnangagwa's offices six times - four times at the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, once at Defence House when he was Minister of Defence, and at his Zanu-PF Headquarters office in 2014 during the party's Congress where President Mugabe appointed him Second Secretary of the Party and Vice President of Zimbabwe.

In the Zanu-PF Headquarters incident, the intruders laced his desk with cyanide, which poisoned his secretary when she entered the office. She had to be hospitalised for several days.

Snr Asst Comm Charamba said police had concluded investigations in the party headquarters case.

"The police conducted the investigations and referred the results to the relevant authorities at Zanu-PF, so they have the authority to comment on that," she said.

Contacted on the findings of police investigations, Zanu-PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo referred the matter back to the police, saying they were the ones who conducted the probe.

"Right from the beginning, the matter was handled by law enforcement agents, so I cannot comment on their investigations," he said. "I am not a spokesperson for the police. We consider this a police matter which law enforcements agents must comment on."

On the latest incident, the intruders drilled a ceiling panel to gain access into Acting President Mnangagwa's office on Tuesday night. It is not yet clear how they reached the ceilling since so there are no traces of how they got there. They complex is guarded 24 hours.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs permanent secretary, Mrs Virgina Mabhiza yesterday said they were yet to get feedback from investigators on their findings.

She said there were no indications that something had been stolen from the office.

"So far there has been no communication from the investigators. I am sure they are still doing their job," she said. "However, I am told some detectives were looking for me, unfortunately I was attending other meetings."

Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Christopher Mushohwe said on Wednesady that Government was worried by the persistent pursuit of Acting President Mnangagwa by the unknown intruders whose motives is yet to be established.

He said Government wanted law enforcement agents to work flat out to establish the identity of the perpetrators and their motive.