2018 Bulawayo bombing
[1] As Mnangagwa and other party leaders walked offstage to enter a VIP tent, a grenade exploded, creating a cloud of smoke and knocking over people standing close by.
[7][18] A Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson state that while the number of injured was official recorded at 49, it could be larger if there were other victims who did not seek medical care.
[5][20] While most of the victims sustained minor injuries and were discharged within hours,[20] health officials warned that some are still in critical condition and that the death toll could rise.
Constantino Chiwenga, the First Vice-President of Zimbabwe and a major figure in the 2017 coup, had minor injuries, as did his wife Marry, who sustained lacerations to her face while trying to rescue one of her aides who had shrapnel in her stomach.
[5][17][20] Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly and ZANU–PF Women's League leader Mabel Chinomona was also injured, as was ZANU–PF National Political Commissar Engelbert Rugeje, who received shrapnel in his arm.
[5][20] Constantino and Marry Chiwenga, Mabel Chinomona, and Engelbert Rugeje were discharged in the days after the attack, while Kembo Mohadi and Oppah Muchinguri suffered more serious injuries and remained in treatment longer.
[17] Presidential spokesman George Charamba told the state-owned Sunday Mail that the general elections scheduled for 30 July 2018 will be held as planned despite the blast, and said that a state of emergency would not be declared.
[1] In an interview with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation hours after the blast, Mnangagwa called the attack "cowardly", offered his thoughts and prayers to the victims, and insisted that the violence would not prevent the upcoming elections from being held.
[23] Opposition leader and MDC–T presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa condemned the attack and urged the expunction of political violence in Zimbabwe.
[5][15][13][24] Other opposition politicians condemning the attack and offering condolences included former Finance Minister Tendai Biti, Senator David Coltart, MP Temba Mliswa, and lawyer and former MDC–T official Alex Magaisa.
[23] Notable civilians who denounced the attack included author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga, musician Thomas Mapfumo, businessman and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa and his wife, newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube, and exiled judge Ben Paradza.
On 26 June, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), a Rhodesian Bush War veterans' group allied with ZANU–PF, told journalists that the ZNLWVA condemned the attack, demanded that police release more information, and argued "the evil political machinations of G40... cannot be ruled out as suspects.
"[7] Puparai Togarepi, secretary of the ZANU–PF Youth League, told journalists in Harare that they also believed "enemies surrounding Mnangagwa" were responsibly for the bombing.
[8] Mnangagwa did direct blame at Grace Mugabe, who was in Singapore at the time of the blast, but said that she was "politically immature and was easily used as a tool by those who wanted to get at me.
[8][24] At a 27 June event, ZANU–PF, the MDC–T, and several other parties signed a peace pledge ahead of the July elections, promising to refrain from hate speech and violence.
[7][24] There, Minister of Home Affairs and Culture Obert Mpofu, whose son was injured by the blast, condemned the "evil deed" and urged Zimbabweans not to capitalize on the grief of victims and their families.
[13][26][27][28] South African President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the bombing, stating that acts of violence and criminality had no place in the democratic process.
[29] At the 43rd Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum in Luanda, Angolan President João Lourenço denounced the bombing as "cowardly, criminal, and undemocratic", adding that he saw the attacks in Bulawayo and Addis Ababa as efforts to undermine democratic elections in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
[30] On the day of the attack, the Zimbabwe Republic Police offered an unspecified reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator of the bombing.
[32] According to the woman's claim, which is uncorroborated, the child approached the state and asked to read a poem in praise of Mnangagwa, and was held back by security personnel but pushed through them and threw something towards the stage.
[33] Police described the suspect as a young male "between the ages of 23 and 25", about 1.7 meters tall and of dark complexion, who was wearing a yellow ZANU–PF T-shirt at the time of the attack.
[18][33] Police officials told the Zimbabwe Independent that although they had found some good leads through witness interviews, they lack access to the suspect, so the investigations cannot "proceed properly.
[18] Investigators and government officials told the Zimbabwe Independent that had the grenade not deflected off a rope, it likely would have detonated within a fatal distance of Mnangagwa.
[35] In July 2024, Mnangagwa ordered a comprehensive investigation into criminal activity targeting him and his family, including the 2018 White City Stadium bombing.
