A number of Zimbabwean cabinet ministers have been arrested after the military made a show of force in the capital Harare‚ according to sources.
Loud explosions and the sound of gunfire crackling in the elite neighborhood of Borrowdale
throughout the night heightened fears that a military crackdown was under way. Several
sources said that the military had arrested the leading figures of the so-called G40 faction
in the ruling Zanu-PF‚ led by First Lady Grace Mugabe
Sources said those arrested included higher education minister Jonathan Moyo‚ local
government minister Saviour Kasukuwere and finance minister Ignatius Chombo
The military said in a statement that President Robert Mugabe was “safe and sound”. This
came after armed personnel first began moving military vehicles into Harare on Tuesday.
The state broadcaster‚ the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation in Pocket Hills in Harare‚
was seized by the military at 4am.
Army spokesperson Major General Sibusiso Moyo announced that the military was now in charge for the purpose of ensuring that it dealt with the “criminals” that had surrounded Mugabe.
“We are only targeting criminals around him [Mugabe] who are committing crimes that are
causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice‚”Moyo said.
Mugabe has in the past spoken out against any military involvement in civilian affairs and
given the stern rebuke that “politics leads the gun” in an attempt to tame his army
generals’ interest in political affairs