Harare: Government has distanced itself from a so-called prayer meeting organised by expelled members of the zanu-pf Youth League in Harare yesterday purportedly to support Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is not feeling well.

VP Mnangagwa is in South Africa, where he is receiving treatment.

His doctors suspect that he could have taken stale food.

The prayer meeting had no blessings from the Government — let alone the VP’s family.

Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Chris Mushohwe, said Government was not aware of the motive behind the gathering.

“That gathering has absolutely nothing to do with Government. We are not aware of it,” he said.

“The Office of (the) Vice President Mnangagwa dissociated with it and the Office of the President and Cabinet is not aware of it. It is not a Government programme. We don’t know who those people are.”

Dr Mushohwe continued: “We don’t know why of all the things they want to have a prayer session for VP Mnangagwa as if he is the first person to fall sick in this country. Whatever motive behind that we don’t know and I don’t know if those people also got clearance from the police. All what I can say is that Government is not aware of that gathering and is not part to it.”

Although the gathering was presumably a prayer meeting, its organisers acted in a criminal way from the beginning after they tricked Zesa officials to connect electricity to their public address system on the pretext that it was a Government programme.

 They took advantage of a stage that was being erected on the same venue for today’s Heroes gala to lie to Zesa officials that their gathering was a Government programme. herald