African press review 26 June 2018

President Mnangagwa vows to respect electoral calendar after surviving an attempt on his life.

We begin in Zimbabwe, where the papers are all about Saturday's blast at a pre-election rally in Bulawayo that narrowly missed President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The state-owned Herald reports that two of 47 people wounded in the attack at White City stadium during the Zanu-PF rally had died.

According to the newspaper, the blast occurred just as President Mnangagwa was leaving the podium after addressing the bumper rally.

The Herald says it is in a position to confirm that Zimbabwe's Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Zanu-PF's chairperson Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri as well as five other top officials of the ruling party are among the people who were injured.

Bulawayo's Daily News says it is still not known who carried out the attack adding that forensic specialists and explosives experts have cordoned off the stadium as they sift for clues for what is being viewed as an attempt on the life of the President.

The Chronicle publishes a photograph of the President speaking at the opening of a Women's micro-finance bank in Harare on Monday.

The paper reports that Mnangagwa spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the event, reassuring them that harmonized elections scheduled on July 30 will proceed as he proclaimed despite what he described as a cowardly terrorist act by yet to be identified people.

It should be recalled that Mnangagwa, took power after Robert Mugabe's ouster in November.

In South Africa, TimesLive publishes a statement from the Movement for Democratic Change, which is Zimbabwe's largest opposition party expressing "unreservedly" condemned the "dastardly act of violence."

According to the paper the MDC denounced what it called an act was reminiscent of Zanu-PF's past 38 years culture of governance in Zimbabwe, characterized by "state-party conflation, fear, capture and coercion.

Several South African publications lead with a reaction of President Cyril Ramaphosa who is also the Chair of the Southern Africa Development Community.

He warned that acts of violence and criminalities had no place in the democratic process of any sovereign state within the SADC region.

According to the Sowetan, Ramaphosa said it was vital that the political and security situation in Zimbabwe remained stable in the run-up to the general elections to be held on July 30.

Mail and Guardian says the president expressed SADC’s intention to evaluate the incident and take appropriate steps.

And in Kenya, Daily Nation leads with news that the FBI investigators will help Ethiopia probe a deadly grenade attack which left two people dead at a massive rally for Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the capital over the weekend.

According to the newspaper, more than 150 people were also injured in the blast, which appeared to target Abiy just as he was wrapping up a speech to a cheering crowd of hundreds of thousands in the heart of Addis Ababa.

The Nation says Ethiopian security forces have arrested 30 people suspected of involvement in the blast, though no party has claimed responsibility.