HARARE – Zanu PF activist Sybeth Musengezi’s Harare home was Saturday ‘petrol bombed’ in a suspected arson attack by persons believed to be unhappy with his bold court challenge against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s legitimacy as the ruling party’s number one.
Musengezi broke news of the incident through his Twitter handle Saturday evening.
“Help please petrol bombing at my house in sandton … 410 sandton on fire my house petrol bombed help please,” he said while accompanying the posts with images of charred remains of property inside his home and the shell of a vehicle which was also caught in the inferno.
Property destroyed is worth thousands of dollars.
The activist later told the media that nobody was hurt in the inferno.
“I suspect that my house was petrol-bombed. Police are investigating the case right now at my house. They are here,” he said.
Musengezi said he was assisted by neighbours to fight the inferno using buckets of water.
“This is what they have done. Thanks to the neighbourhood ‘vadzodzima moto nema’ (extinguished it using) buckets. We managed to get out,” he said.
Musengezi took the onus to bell the proverbial cat in a bold court challenge against Mnangagwa’s legitimacy.
He is argues the Zimbabwean incumbent was unjustly elevated to the Zanu PF top job by party allies in the aftermath of the shock military assisted coup against late former President Robert Mugabe November 2017.
The court challenge, soon to be heard, is a potential banana skin in the wake of the veteran politician’s bid to secure his second straight mandate as Zanu PF first secretary in a party elective congress later this month.
The position will also earn Mnangagwa the ticket to become party candidate for the 2023 presidential elections.
No party politician has since stood up to bid for the position although there are strong signs of undercurrents playing out within the party against Mnangagwa’s incumbency.
The suspected arson incident on Musengezi’s home is the first act of alleged physical attack on the activist since he launched the challenge against Mnangagwa.