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Minister confirms crashed helicopter was due to fly Mnangagwa to Harare
By Staff Reporter
THE VIP helicopter which crashed in Masvingo at the weekend was supposed to fly President Emmerson Mnangagwa back to Harare, the government has confirmed.
The Airforce of Zimbabwe’s AS332L Cougar chopper crashed shortly after take-off at Masvingo airport on Sunday.
According to reports, the crew of three on board survived the crash with one reportedly sustaining unspecified injuries.
In a statement to State media Monday, information minister Jenfan Muswere confirmed the chopper was supposed to fly President Emmerson Mnangagwa back to Harare.
The Zanu PF leader had attended celebrations for his 82nd birthday hosted by the party’s youth league at the Great Zimbabwe monuments.
Mnangagwa was accompanied for the so-called Munhumutapa Day event by deputy Kembo Mohadi and Zanu PF national chair Oppah Muchinguri among other senior party and government officials.
Vice president Constantino Chiwenga missed the event.
The helicopter was one of two VIP-designated choppers acquired by the Harare government in 1995.
In April 2021, the Harare government acquired a refurbished Airbus H215 helicopter in 2021 to add to its VIP fleet amid security concerns over the aged Cougar aircraft.
“There have been security concerns about the safety of the Cougar helicopter currently in service,” the state-owned Herald newspaper reported at the time.
“President Mnangagwa will be doing a lot of domestic travel to remote parts of the country in the run up to the presidential and parliamentary elections set for (August) 2023. That is why this acquisition was approved.”
The AFZ has lost several aerial defence assets and aircraft to crashes and obsolescence in the past 22 years.
Under economic sanctions and a United States (US) and European Union (EU) enforced arms embargo, Zimbabwe has struggled to maintain its fleet of old Western-made military aircraft.