Zimbabwe Denies Ex Botswana President Ian Khama’s Claim It Is Plotting To Kill Him

A senior Zimbabwean government official has dismissed claims by former Botswana president Ian Khama that the Zimbabwean government is plotting to assassinate him.

Khama made the claims in an interview with the Masvingo Mirror, saying he had been warned by two independent sources about an alleged plot linked to his criticism of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Act No 3 of 2026.

He alleged that a senior Zimbabwean intelligence official recently travelled to Botswana and met local intelligence officers as part of the purported operation.

He did not provide evidence to support the claims, and they have not been independently verified.

Responding to the allegations, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Ministry spokesperson Ndavaningi Mangwana said Khama needs help, describing the claims as laughable and baseless.

“We have noted the laughable and baseless claims that the Zimbabwean Government wants to assassinate Mr Ian Khama,” said Mangwana.

“This is the same Mr Khama who, in 2023, claimed Botswana’s government was planning to arrest and poison him—allegations that were rightly dismissed by Botswana’s own authorities as ‘outrageous and unfortunate’.

“His latest fantasy fits a well‑established pattern: when Mr Khama is not making outlandish claims about Zimbabwe, he is busy making them about his own country.”

Mangwana said Khama suffers from paranoia and persecutory delusions and needs professional help for his fixation on Zimbabwe.

“Let us be clear: Zimbabwe has no interest in Mr Khama. Beyond this statement, we have no further intention of engaging with his theatrics,” he said.

“No evidence has been publicly presented to substantiate his claims, because none exists.

“The idea that Zimbabwe would dispatch intelligence officers to Botswana to target a man whose only weapon is his mouth is as absurd as it is contemptible.

“Mr Khama clearly suffers from paranoia and persecutory delusions, and we advise him to get help. It cannot be easy seeing a threat in his own shadow.

“When he is not seeing spies under his bed, he is fabricating plots where none exist. His record of crying wolf is extensive enough to warrant medical intervention.

“We again advise Mr Khama to seek professional help for his obsessive fixation on Zimbabwe.

“His fantasies belong in the fiction section, not in serious political discourse.

“The Zimbabwean Government remains focused on the welfare of its people and will not be distracted by the ramblings of a man who has made a career out of slandering this nation.”