A top Zimbabwean official has said that although some people were taking President Robert Mugabe’s the fall at the Harare International Airport last Wednesday lightly, it was a serious matter that had to be dealt with thoroughly.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because presidential spokesperson George Charamba has denied that any purges was on it because of the incident, the deep throat said: “There are many departments that are being investigated, from Air Zimbabwe, the advance team and the security. I doubt if some of them will come back.
“The issue here is simple. The security team was caught napping.
“They were taking things for granted and failed to adhere to basics. It is protocol that the immediate proximity is, at most, three metres from the President. These are the bullet takers and in cases where he falls they are supposed to hold him either by the arm or by the shoulder and should never take their eyes off him.”
The official added: “He went on to touch the ground on all fours.
“That should never happen. What if someone pulled a gun? The immediate proximity team should have helped him up because those are the people that are allowed to touch him before anyone else.”
He said the security failed to follow Rule Number 3 of their training manual which outlined the distance they should keep from the President.
According to additional reports the immediate proximity team is also there to prevent members of the public getting dangerously close to the President as happened when British gay rights activist Peter Thatchell attempted a citizen’s arrest on Mugabe in 1999.
Meanwhile Zimbabwean reports that up to 27 members of Mugabe presidential security and advance team who appeared pre-occupied as Mugabe tripped and tumbled after addressing hundreds of Zanu PF supporters who had been bussed to welcome him on his return from the African Union summit, have been suspended.
Munhumutapa government building officials have hinted that an investigation was launched on the night that Mugabe fell at the airport on his return from Ethiopia where he had just taken charge as the new chairperson of the African Union.
But Charamba Sunday dismissed the reports of a shake up in President Mugabe’s security team as a fallacy.
“There is only one hand that shakes up and that hand has not shaken up [anything]. What is there to shake up? The last time you heard about a shake up it was from us and not from media reports,” Charamba said.
But sources insisted a shake up had indeed taken place and there were indications that some officials could be fired.
At the State House last Friday afternoon where President Mugabe received newly-elected Zambian leader Edgar Lungu, new faces could be seen on his security team.