When the army descended on former Foreign Affairs Minister Walter Mzembi he was laid back in his house. Infact, he was relaxed and never thought the constant military threats by Gen Constantino Chiwenga and his colleagues were serious.

Mzembi yesterday revealed to the BBC that he never took them seriously and when the gunshots were fired, he fled into a hotel.

“I was in my bedroom upstairs, yah, I heard gunshots of course I said this can’t be right whatever it is. You don’t wait for yourself to be captured by anarchy if you suspect that’s what it is; you don’t wait for it to happen I obviously sought sanctuary.”

Mzembi said he quickly fled into a hotel.

“I just went into a hotel,” he said without delving further into the horrific drama.

He continued saying, “for quite some time the military were giving us warnings …that if we insisted and continued to act the way we were doing in the party they would intervene.

“So it’s like…in hindsight now, they were warning us. We never took them seriously.”

Mzembi, who was considered part of the group that was fomenting chaos and divisions within Zanu-PF, walked into the National Assembly around 1520hours while the House was in session. He was met with jeers from legislators, particularly from the MDC-T, the state media reports.

He went straight to First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa (Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe MP) to greet her before doing the same to other Zanu-PF legislators.

Dr Mzembi is the former Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Mkoba MP Mr Amos Chibaya (MDC-T) could be heard shouting, “Ndivo First Lady ivavo vamaituka”, while Musikavanhu MP Mr Prosper Mutseyami shouted, “Mr Mzembi coming from Cuban embassy.”

After he had greeted a handful of Zanu-PF MPs, Dr Mzembi sat in the front row following proceedings.