News / National
Mutsvangwa did not attack Mugabe
18 Jul 2017 at 03:16hrs | Views
War veterans minister Tshinga Dube has defended outspoken former Cabinet minister Christopher Mutsvangwa saying he had nothing to do with the stinging communiqué which offended President Robert Mugabe last year, adding the State has failed to identify its authors.
Mutsvangwa is the chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans (ZNLWVA) who ended their nearly 41-year relationship with Mugabe last July after the unprecedented attack which scorned his leadership.
Addressing a gathering during his constituency meeting with former liberators over the weekend, Dube said those complaining about his links with the former War Veterans minister had misplaced misconceptions.
"I hear they are complaining about my relations with Mutsvangwa and his comrades. They say I support him but am I the one who elected them? No," Dube said.
"So, they say they have a case to answer but the court has cleared them. Does it mean the courts have failed to clear them for a year now, so does it mean the charges were trumped up?
"If so, what I know is that if somebody has a case to answer, we have the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation), military police, CID and Pisi (Police Internal Security Intelligence), so you mean all these people are failing to get somebody who wrote the document that led to their expulsion? I don't think they can fail to arrest that person," he said.
"The day the court will find them (Mutsvangwa-linked war veterans) guilty, that's when we will call for a congress, but it's not the duty of the ministry to choose the leaders of war veterans but the war veterans on their own," added Dube.
The Makokoba legislator said he had no power to expel Mutsvangwa even if he had those intentions.
"Mutsvangwa and company were expelled from the party, Parliament and Cabinet but the president didn't expel them from being war veterans.
"So you want me to fire them, who am I to do that? If war veterans want to expel their comrades, let them call a congress like they did on Jabulani Sibanda."
Until their highly-publicised fall-out with Mugabe - the ex-combatants had served as Mugabe and Zanu-PF pillars - waging brutal campaigns against the MDC particularly in the bloody 2008 harmonised elections.
After they issued the damning communiqué, Mugabe responded firing Mutsvangwa - who was the War Veterans minister then - from his Cabinet team.
Mutsvangwa and his wife Monica were among the nearly two dozen Zanu-PF bigwigs, who are linked to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's mooted presidential aspirations, booted out of the ruling party.
Other members of the ZNLWVA executive were subsequently arrested and arraigned before the courts where they were eventually set free.
Mutsvangwa is the chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans (ZNLWVA) who ended their nearly 41-year relationship with Mugabe last July after the unprecedented attack which scorned his leadership.
Addressing a gathering during his constituency meeting with former liberators over the weekend, Dube said those complaining about his links with the former War Veterans minister had misplaced misconceptions.
"I hear they are complaining about my relations with Mutsvangwa and his comrades. They say I support him but am I the one who elected them? No," Dube said.
"So, they say they have a case to answer but the court has cleared them. Does it mean the courts have failed to clear them for a year now, so does it mean the charges were trumped up?
"If so, what I know is that if somebody has a case to answer, we have the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation), military police, CID and Pisi (Police Internal Security Intelligence), so you mean all these people are failing to get somebody who wrote the document that led to their expulsion? I don't think they can fail to arrest that person," he said.
"The day the court will find them (Mutsvangwa-linked war veterans) guilty, that's when we will call for a congress, but it's not the duty of the ministry to choose the leaders of war veterans but the war veterans on their own," added Dube.
"Mutsvangwa and company were expelled from the party, Parliament and Cabinet but the president didn't expel them from being war veterans.
"So you want me to fire them, who am I to do that? If war veterans want to expel their comrades, let them call a congress like they did on Jabulani Sibanda."
Until their highly-publicised fall-out with Mugabe - the ex-combatants had served as Mugabe and Zanu-PF pillars - waging brutal campaigns against the MDC particularly in the bloody 2008 harmonised elections.
After they issued the damning communiqué, Mugabe responded firing Mutsvangwa - who was the War Veterans minister then - from his Cabinet team.
Mutsvangwa and his wife Monica were among the nearly two dozen Zanu-PF bigwigs, who are linked to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's mooted presidential aspirations, booted out of the ruling party.
Other members of the ZNLWVA executive were subsequently arrested and arraigned before the courts where they were eventually set free.
Source - dailynews
