The venue of the ZANU PF People’s Annual Conference is reportedly under security lockdown as the Indaba begins today.
Police officers in riot gear were seen patrolling the small town as well armed soldiers and a plethora of other covert security agencies swarmed the place.
Mnangagwa’s security was reportedly upgraded after he survived an apparent assassination attempt on 23 June this year at a ZANU PF rally at White City Stadium in Bulawayo.
A grenade attack on the fateful day claimed the lives of two security personnel and left some senior ZANU PF leaders injured. They had to be airlifted to South Africa where they were hospitalised for some time.
A senior police officer who spoke to Newsday on condition that his identity will not be revealed said
Yes, we are not taking any chances in terms of security. The area is a hotspot for crime because of the presence of panners, who come to Esigodini because of its gold deposits.
We have to make sure that the area is cleared of such unruly elements who might want to take advantage and terrorise delegates coming for the conference. We are happy with our deployments so that the conference goes on without any incident.