News / National
Chamisa's former ally in sensational Zimbabwe sanctions claim
16 Oct 2022 at 14:24hrs | Views
THE Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC) has blasted former Masvingo Urban legislator, Tongai Matutu, arguing his unfounded and preposterous claims that the then vibrant Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) crafted sanctions fully conscious they would hurt ordinary Zimbabweans.
The Nelson Chamisa-led CCC says utterances by Matutu were another ploy at endearing himself with President Emmerson Mnangagwa in order to join the ruling Zanu-PF gravy train.
Matutu's ‘tell-all apology' type of letter seen by NewZimbabwe.com implicated CCC leaders as having been at the centre of America's Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) and argued the party was just a re-branded MDC.
He claimed the MDC, which at the time was under presidency of late pro-democracy icon Morgan Tsvangirai, would fake abductions to get international sympathy while justifying imposition of sanctions since the early 2000s.
Matutu, who addressed the letter to the Justice Ministry, called on government to set up a commission of inquiry on the matter, bring to book all he said were involved, and promised to share documents, bank statements, recordings, and photos as evidence of the part he played in sanctioning of some of Zimbabwe's political and business elites.
"The serious economic downturn that Zimbabwe experienced between the years 2000-2008 was a direct result of my actions and those I used to work with in the MDC, now re-branded to CCC," said Matutu.
"These illegal and unwarranted sanctions were carefully crafted by us at the MDC, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), representatives from local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the European Union, the USA, and the UK with the aim of making Zimbabwe a dysfunctional state.
"We were fully aware that the effects of these sanctions will hit hard on the majority of Zimbabweans, and not targeted individuals. The idea was to frustrate people so that they would vote Zanu-PF out of power, the white farmers would get back their farms and maintain the colonial status quo.
"I understand the seriousness of the crime we all committed while in the MDC, therefore I seriously recommend you to set up a commission of inquiry to look into our actions and the origins of the vicious and unwarranted sanctions, bringing to book all who were involved."
The eccentric Matutu first dumped Tsvangirai for then party deputy Tendai Biti's People's Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014, before making a comeback in 2016.
In 2020, he quit the party again, now under leadership of Nelson Chamisa to join ruling Zanu-PF, from where he has been launching scathing attacks and criticism of his former benefactors.
CCC deputy spokesperson, Ostallos Siziba said CCC could never be victims of a revised history of the democratic struggle.
"This is expected from excitable characters trying to deepen their dirty hands in the gravy train and eating trough of the regime in Harare, but as a matter of fact the history of the opposition is well known and well documented in terms of who did what, where and how.
"We cannot be victims of revisionism, as a way to try and weaponise that revision to advance very naive and petty political objections to try and compete with the bootlickers of Mnangagwa in Harare.
"The intention and script of Zanu-PF to try and directly link CCC and MDC despite that the movements are different in form, character and content is something that does not surprise but is expected of the regime and their different players whose intentions are to bootlick their way into the looting trough."
Despite promising to pay no regards to sanctions in his development paradigm upon taking over, Mnangagwa has reverted to his predecessor Robert Mugabe's stance and blamed his woes on the limitations set for his colleagues by the West.
October 25, has been set as an annual holiday to call for the scrapping of sanctions, which have been maintained since 2001.
The Nelson Chamisa-led CCC says utterances by Matutu were another ploy at endearing himself with President Emmerson Mnangagwa in order to join the ruling Zanu-PF gravy train.
Matutu's ‘tell-all apology' type of letter seen by NewZimbabwe.com implicated CCC leaders as having been at the centre of America's Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) and argued the party was just a re-branded MDC.
He claimed the MDC, which at the time was under presidency of late pro-democracy icon Morgan Tsvangirai, would fake abductions to get international sympathy while justifying imposition of sanctions since the early 2000s.
Matutu, who addressed the letter to the Justice Ministry, called on government to set up a commission of inquiry on the matter, bring to book all he said were involved, and promised to share documents, bank statements, recordings, and photos as evidence of the part he played in sanctioning of some of Zimbabwe's political and business elites.
"The serious economic downturn that Zimbabwe experienced between the years 2000-2008 was a direct result of my actions and those I used to work with in the MDC, now re-branded to CCC," said Matutu.
"These illegal and unwarranted sanctions were carefully crafted by us at the MDC, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), representatives from local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the European Union, the USA, and the UK with the aim of making Zimbabwe a dysfunctional state.
This is it, it's all right here👇. l am sorry for playing a part in the sanctioning of this country. The truth is we were given millions for this treachery however, millions of ordinary Zimbabweans have suffered greatly for over 2 decades. The damage is just immeasurable!!!! pic.twitter.com/4wBiAaIRPB
— Tongai Matutu (@MatutuTongai) October 14, 2022
"We were fully aware that the effects of these sanctions will hit hard on the majority of Zimbabweans, and not targeted individuals. The idea was to frustrate people so that they would vote Zanu-PF out of power, the white farmers would get back their farms and maintain the colonial status quo.
"I understand the seriousness of the crime we all committed while in the MDC, therefore I seriously recommend you to set up a commission of inquiry to look into our actions and the origins of the vicious and unwarranted sanctions, bringing to book all who were involved."
The eccentric Matutu first dumped Tsvangirai for then party deputy Tendai Biti's People's Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014, before making a comeback in 2016.
In 2020, he quit the party again, now under leadership of Nelson Chamisa to join ruling Zanu-PF, from where he has been launching scathing attacks and criticism of his former benefactors.
CCC deputy spokesperson, Ostallos Siziba said CCC could never be victims of a revised history of the democratic struggle.
"This is expected from excitable characters trying to deepen their dirty hands in the gravy train and eating trough of the regime in Harare, but as a matter of fact the history of the opposition is well known and well documented in terms of who did what, where and how.
"We cannot be victims of revisionism, as a way to try and weaponise that revision to advance very naive and petty political objections to try and compete with the bootlickers of Mnangagwa in Harare.
"The intention and script of Zanu-PF to try and directly link CCC and MDC despite that the movements are different in form, character and content is something that does not surprise but is expected of the regime and their different players whose intentions are to bootlick their way into the looting trough."
Despite promising to pay no regards to sanctions in his development paradigm upon taking over, Mnangagwa has reverted to his predecessor Robert Mugabe's stance and blamed his woes on the limitations set for his colleagues by the West.
October 25, has been set as an annual holiday to call for the scrapping of sanctions, which have been maintained since 2001.
Source - NewZimbabwe
