Heads have started rolling as the fallout over President Robert Mugabe’s embarrasing fall at Harare International Airport on Wednesday begins.
Sources said up to 27 members of the presidential security and advance team who seemed immobilised as Mugabe tripped and tumbled after addressing hundreds of Zanu PF supporters who had been bussed to welcome him on his return from the African Union summit, have been suspended.
According to the sources, the guards were handed their suspension letters on Friday.
Officials at Munhumutapa government building said an investigation was launched on the night that Mugabe fell at the airport on his return from Ethiopia where he had just taken charge as the new chairperson of the African Union.
At the State House on Friday afternoon where President Mugabe was meeting newly-elected Zambian leader Edgar Lungu, new faces could be seen on his security team.
Another official said although some people were taking the fall lightly, it was a serious matter that had to be dealt with thoroughly.
“There are many departments that are being investigated, from Air Zimbabwe, the advance team and the security. I doubt if some of them will come back,” said the official close to the developments.
“The issue here is simple. The security team was caught napping.
They were taking things for granted and failed to adhere to basics. It is protocol that the immediate proximity is, at most, three metres from the President. These are the bullet takers and in cases where he falls they are supposed to hold him either by the arm or by the shoulder and should never take their eyes off him.”
The official added: “He went on to touch the ground on all fours.
That should never happen. What if someone pulled a gun? The immediate proximity team should have helped him up because those are the people that are allowed to touch him before anyone else.”
Information gathered revealed that the immediate proximity team was also there to prevent members of the public getting dangerously close to the President as happened when British gay rights activist Peter Thatchell attempted a citizen’s arrest on Mugabe in 1999.
He said the security failed to follow Rule Number 3 of their training manual which outlined the distance they should keep from the President.
The official, however said most of the suspensions could just be decoys by the secret service chiefs who wanted to appear as if they were doing something about the embarrassing incident.
Source: The Zimbabwe Standard
Hian!!!
ReplyDeleteWonders will never end..
DeleteEeeyyyaaa.
DeleteThat's quite a harsh punishment.
But truth be told, those guards needs to work on their reflexes.
For the president to have fallen on all fours like that shows they were not alert and quick enough.
It's a pity.
Wch kind mumu gist be dis kwan
DeleteExactly. His team is slow. In d pix,no guard was holding him or bending towards him
DeleteAs he was falling,i expected to see them holding him n barricading him.
Lousy proximity team
Okay!!!!
DeleteIn other news, who else has seen the "fugly" gown Rihanna wore to the Grammys???
Omo yen sef.... #shrugs
Weekend Over????????
Monday Already???
OMG!!!!!
I wanted to ask if it was the guards that pushed him down until I read further that they have a particulat distance they are suppose to be from the president. Thank God its not a place were d presidents life was at stake , they would have just got I'm like a small rat before the guards knows what's going on.
DeleteNoted next pls!
ReplyDeleteLol.. The fall of Mugabe abi na Mugabe has fallen
DeleteFor Christ sake, the is 90 gini? His ligaments ate falling! Why shld someone else take the blame.
DeleteFashion terms definition at
Lindahrisfashion.blogspot.com
Hian!!!
ReplyDeleteDouble Hian!!!!
DeleteBwahahahahahahaha.....
Triple hian.
DeleteHahahabababahahahajajaja
So if an African president falls, someone head must roll, if they could they would be carried about like babies... Smh. Is it not Gordon Brown that carried his bag on a train in the UK.. Backward mentality...
ReplyDeleteThat's how the blame game starts. He should do the needful by resigning and resting his legs well.
ReplyDelete*Coughing*
ReplyDeleteLmao.
DeleteThen again, it could be a decoy.
Mtchewww. Falling is a human phenomenon. Mugabe should take a chill pill.
ReplyDeleteExactly! How much more 90-year olds who refuse to take a seat! *hiss*
DeleteOriegwu!
ReplyDeleteHia. Na dem fall d man?
ReplyDeletePamscrib.blogspot.com
Investigation has been launched?
ReplyDeleteSomeone is obviously old and frail and people are been investigated and sacked? How will they ever know when he is about to fall?
He should get this cute,stylish walking stick(oh well I know he will not like to be seen as weak and frail).
Mummy Mugabe,always travel with your hubby please.
Actually, word is she is usually the one that holds him as he walks but she had just had surgery or something like that and couldn't attend said event. Old man go and rest! Haba!
DeleteI'm not a fan of Mugabe and I dislike him and his principle but I totally agree with the decision. They should be fired and not suspended. As a security personnel guarding the President, their responsibility is always be at alert and they should have grabbed him the moment that he tripped. Their responsibility is to avoid such an embarrassment to the office of the President. And the most annoying was them looking at him without either coming to his rescue or grabbed him
ReplyDeleteThe only way the embarrassing fall could have been averted is if one of the body guards carried him like a baby out of the flight then to his car, or was wheeled on a wheelchair.
DeleteWhat are you even talking about, did you expect then to hold his hands while he was walking down. Address the certain issue which is his weak bones.
You're talking of sack, if you're one of the guards, will you say the same? If so, may you receive your own firing tomorrow morning for what's beyond you!
This is just a damage control gimmick, nobody would have stopped it. You should have blamed the press that leaked it to the public and no other person.
Well said!
DeleteI agree that they should have grabbed him tho. He fell on all fours!
DeleteThats a lotta gap for anything to happen.
But then again, the man is old men.
If Queen Elizabeth falls on all fours tio, believe me, people will be sacked!
This story is soo funny men..
Muga Bby, biko rest nah
They wanted him to fall
DeleteI'm not a fan of Mugabe and I dislike him and his principle but I totally agree with the decision. They should be fired and not suspended. As a security personnel guarding the President, their responsibility is always be at alert and they should have grabbed him the moment that he tripped. Their responsibility is to avoid such an embarrassment to the office of the President. And the most annoying was them looking at him without either coming to his rescue or grabbed him
ReplyDeleteLol....u know @Mugabe is a very difficult man...he is a dictator... May be ,he warned them not to ever pick him up when he falls....so the world will not see him as weak President
DeleteIf you look at the Original pics of his Humpty Dumpty fall....u WL realise that,they kept looking at him,like...
"If u fall finish,y go stand up"
Lmao.
@Galore
Na onli u waka come!
DeleteSee gbegee...
ReplyDeleteStill lol at the memes...
It's not their fault na Grandpa...
27? That's a lot sha...
Abeg o, ow many cooks or guards den go sack if mugabe get constipation?
ReplyDeleteBuhari/Osibanjo all the way
Mugabe the beast!!dont blame your fall on any1
ReplyDeleteHe shld accept d fact dt he is old jooor, Haba body no be firewood!
ReplyDeleteAbeg make them let the guards be afterall it wasnt the guards that put banana peel abi okro on the floor.
ReplyDeleteFor why nau.
ReplyDeleteYes they should sack them right away, they behaved as if the president is their enemy almost folding their hands watching him fall, i got annoyed when i saw the picture, useless guards, they are not even good to be gate men, olodo, wicked souls.
ReplyDeleteDictatorship at its best.
ReplyDeleteMtschw. ..na them say make him old
ReplyDeleteAbi them push am
In my friend,Luther's voice 'make him go rest'
Mugabe is just as cruel as Bokohari!
ReplyDeleteAt least it gave the Mugabe Falls a lot of publicity! https://www.facebook.com/mugabefalls
ReplyDeleteHahahahhahhahhahhahahahahha. So the man cannot fall down again? Mcheew.
ReplyDeleteOk yeah dey should b sacked! What if it was a gun shot? But Mugabe is old n needs to rest!
ReplyDeleteabi grandpa @90,still striving very hard to rule,sir u ought to have resign,if not for sugery u shouldn't have been able 2walk let alone of falling.
ReplyDeleteabi grandpa @90,still striving very hard to rule,sir u ought to have resign,if not for sugery u shouldn't have been able 2walk let alone of falling.
ReplyDeleteOpps my signature-YINXS baba
its true. .. it didnt look like they cared to me. they were lost
ReplyDeleteSo if presido fall person go take blame????what was he even looking at if I may ask?????they should get a carrier for him if that's what they want
ReplyDeleteThey either pushed Baba or watched him fall.
ReplyDeleteThat's wickedness.
If there's anyone to blame, it's the media team that let it or allowed it out. The media team manages what the world see and what they must not see.
ReplyDeleteFor the fall itself, it's inevitable and there were many others we didn't see and many more to come. What do you expect from a 92-year-old.
A guard should be carrying him at his back like a baby or they use wheelchair for him, else his weak bones will continue to fail him. Sacking the guards is damage control, just to make Mugabe feel his security outfit is working. The same way our presidential security will shut down the Abuja airport road just because Goodluck is passing
They should be fired, suspension is too mild a punishment. Why would I have aides yet fall to d ground? Frail or not, as aides, they ought to be within very close range. There's a reason that they are adjudicated such task. It simply means they were negligent in their duties. Busy revelling in the accolades being thrown at d Mr. President. Of course they want to partake in it, holding their heads high and of course making sure the press captures them. And the president falls, dem no knw.. mtcheew.
ReplyDelete... I wont make a wicked first lady, will I?...
Well said .exactly my thoughts .they should be fired not suspended.
DeleteI quite agree with their decision. Even if they didn't like the man they shouldn't have neglected him at such an occurrence. From all the pics of the fall that I saw not even a single person moved a muscle to catch him n I remember stella saying it looked like his aids were laughing at him.
ReplyDeleteStory for the gods.
ReplyDeleteHe's above falling because he's the president?
Oriegwu!!!
Haba! Yeah,they did fail in thier duties especially those in close proximity.he wasnt supposed to go down on all fours....what were they doin the whole time.
ReplyDeleteBut then again,baba they werent waiting on your fall na.so temper mercy.you sef don over old.
This is just the begining of your many fallings if you dont resign,is it your birthright?see his face
Why can someone not give this Mugabe something as simple as Viagra pills so he can have a heart attack and go away
ReplyDeleteTruth be told the guards failed to do their jobs n should be punished but this is also a warning signal to Mugabe to do the needful bc you cant cheat nature.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed the guards around him just stood still in the picture without bothering to help him up... Even if he's not the President, seeing someone fall like that, they should have held him. Not to talk of being a body guard to the President. Not all the 27 are guilty tho cus the guards around the president were not up to 27
ReplyDeleteMaybe he has warned the never to touch in before. Hihihihihi
DeleteFacts. A leader wt great power potentials shudnt just fall hands to d ground like dat, it shud av been a case where Mugabe missed his steps,&his guards saved d day,by making sure he never fell hands down.
ReplyDeleteSo that was y I initially commented on d fall saga,that it was a bad sign,he needs to b extra careful,i smell an uprising againt him.
If it was in Nigeria, all this hypocrites will start cussing Jona. May God help us
ReplyDeleteMugabe nwoke ike
ReplyDeleteI did find it strange that non of them moved and they were all expressionless as he took that tumble
ReplyDeleteMugabe is going to fall down again if he insists on going up and down the podium steps or air stairs of an airplane. Mugabe likes to show off at these podiums. He just loves podiums but he is going to fall down again and there is no arrangement which will stop him falling unless he stops going up and down the podiums he so much loves. He will encounter podiums everywhere he goes on official duties including the Heroes Acre. The security details cannot stop him falling because he has to go on the podium on his own or with a visiting head of state. He does not fancy a walking stick. One thing is - Mugabe will not retire and nobody will persuade him to retire. Only a stroke or total blindness will stop him being president. The man loves power. Nobody loves power more than Mugabe.
ReplyDeleteBut are they the causers?
ReplyDeleteI also agree this post. I think we should maintain the law of gun. It is very dangerous if you use the gun unconsciously. Most of the USA children makes a mistake by using the misuse of gun.
ReplyDelete