'Mutasa should not expect any outpouring of sympathy'

OPPOSITION parties have said beleaguered former Zanu-PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa should not expect any outpouring of sympathy over his woes at the hands of his former party as it was only proper that he takes a dose of his own medicine.

Mutasa claims his former comrades are after his life, deploying state security machinery to eliminate him ahead of the by-election in his constituency which he is determined to contest.

Mutasa was until three months ago, chief of Zimbabwe's security system which he claims has now been unleashed on him.

Mutasa, who was Presidential Affairs minister before he was kicked out of the party, said last week that soldiers and secret service agents had been deployed in his constituency to thwart his campaign. He said soldiers had no job to do in rural areas and should be removed and sent back to the barracks - just as opposition parties have always said ahead of every election, with Mutasa giving them a deaf ear.

According to the Standard, MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu said Mutasa has never been a good example of a democrat and should remember the violence unleashed on innocent people in his former constituency.

He said the opposition party was pleased to note that Mutasa will now be able to appreciate what the MDC-T had always been complaining about concerning violence, as well as the several electoral malpractices that were routinely practised by the Zanu-PF party.

United MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume said it was good that Mutasa was coming face-to-face with Zanu-PF's dirty campaign tactics.

Mutasa claimed that there were plans by Zanu-PF to kill him before the by-election. He alleged soldiers have been sent to his Headlands constituency in a bid to intimidate him and ensure he doesn't contest.