The London based lawyer and Director Of Africa Public Policy Research Institute, Lloyd Msipa writes saying President Emmerson Mnangagwa is paying a huge price for failing to deal decisively with the criminals around former President Robert Mugabe.

Says Msipa: “Conspiracy theories are being thrown around with regard to who was responsible for the attempted assassination of President E.D Mnangagwa. Most prominent amongst them are that the attack was an inside job driven by the deep rooted division between VP Chiwenga and President Mnangagwa. Some have even gone to suggest that the divisions extended all the way down to the first and second lady.

“This is all utter nonsense, Chiwenga and E.D are close buddies going back to the war of liberation, their hold on power is very much depended on each other playing their role. They are nothing without each other. The second one which is the most ridiculous, that the incident was staged to avoid elections and put in place a state of emergency has been dismissed by VP Chiwenga in his recent rallies.

“The smoking gun lies elsewhere. One of the fundamental tenets of a power transfer or change of guard is that it creates enemies as it takes away from one to benefit another. All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: the enemy will recover, and will seek revenge.

“Crush him, not only in body but in spirit. It appears that E.D Mnangagwa is learning the hard way. His benevolence and forgiving spirit is coming back to haunt him. His problem is not the people of Matebeleland. His problem is the ones that got away during the power transfer, his problem is the ones he forgave and allowed to live normal lives knowing fully well they will never allow him to govern in peace.

“The incidents ( both attempts, poisoning and bomb) were located in Matebeleland for a reason. If the assassination had succeeded, it would be very easy to explain away. Here was a man who was the enemy of an entire region because of his ’perceived’ role in the ’Gukurahundi’ conflict. If E.D had met his Waterloo in Bulawayo, his enemies would have caused the history books to record it as such. In the absence of another convincing narrative, it would have been so. As the investigation takes place, it is my considered view that the enemy is right there, hiding in plain sight. #Msipasaidit”