PRESIDENT MNANGAGWA’S HELICOPTER CRASHES AFTER LAUNCH OF MUNHUMUTAPA DAY

A helicopter scheduled to pick up President Emmerson Mnangagwa from Bikita after the launch of Munhumutapa Day crashed shortly after take-off at Masvingo Airport. The helicopter was meant to take him back to Harare after the event. Luckily, President Mnangagwa was not on board when the crash happened. There were only crew members inside, and one was reportedly injured. No one died in the accident.

Today is also President Mnangagwa’s birthday. He turned 82 years old. He was born in Zvishavane on 15 September 1942. To mark the occasion, he attended the launch of Munhumutapa Day at the Great Zimbabwe Monuments, which is now set to become a national event in his honor. The Great Zimbabwe Monuments are located about 30 kilometers southeast of Masvingo town. Masvingo Airport, where the crash happened, is just three kilometers from the town. The airport usually caters to small aircraft and military planes.

Reports of the accident first started spreading quickly. Some media outlets mistakenly reported that the Vice Presidents of Zimbabwe were on the helicopter. However, this was not true. Vice President Constantino Chiwenga was not even at the Munhumutapa Day celebrations at the Great Zimbabwe Monuments. The other Vice President, Kembo Mohadi, was there, but he was also not in the helicopter.

A source close to the event spoke to The NewsHawks and provided some information on what happened. The source explained that there were actually two helicopters involved. One of them was the presidential helicopter. After take-off, this helicopter suddenly developed a technical problem and crashed. The source said that there was a “big impact” when the helicopter hit the ground. There were three crew members inside, and one of them was injured. Thankfully, no one lost their life in the crash.

President Mnangagwa had gone to Bikita earlier in the day. Bikita is where his father, Mafidi Mnangagwa, is buried. Some people believe that Mnangagwa’s family originally came from Bikita before they moved to Mapanzure in Zvishavane. However, there are different stories about where his family is from. Some versions say something different, but this is one of the common ones.

This is not the first time President Mnangagwa’s helicopter has had problems. Back in August 2021, another helicopter he was using had to make an emergency landing. This happened about 60 kilometers southwest of Harare. In that case, the helicopter was flying from Mnangagwa’s farm, Precabe Farm, which is in Sherwood, Kwekwe. The technical failure forced the helicopter to land on a farm owned by a Ministry of Finance official. After that incident, the security services made some changes to how the president’s flights were handled.

At the time, the journalist who first reported on the emergency landing in 2021 faced a lot of pressure. Security agents came after him and forced him to leave his home. The journalist’s sources inside the government were also punished.

Despite today’s crash, it seems there will be no major consequences like the ones that followed the 2021 helicopter incident. So far, there has been no official comment from President Mnangagwa’s media and communications team about today’s crash. Journalists have tried to reach out for information, but they have not gotten any response.

Today’s accident could have been much worse. Fortunately, no lives were lost. The injured crew member is expected to recover. This will likely lead to more investigations into the safety of the president’s helicopters and more reviews of the security protocols surrounding presidential travel.

In the meantime, the launch of Munhumutapa Day marks a significant new chapter in Zimbabwe’s national celebrations. It’s a day that is meant to honor President Mnangagwa, and it will be held each year from now on. The president’s birthday and this new national day will now be forever connected. But today’s events also show how unpredictable life can be, as even a routine flight can end in a crash.