Mutodi's Apology to Guvamatanga Does Not Change the Fact of Corruption Exposed: Chin'ono

Prominent Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono has dismissed ZANU PF legislator Energy Mutodi's apology to Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary George Guvamatanga, saying it does nothing to erase the corruption allegations previously raised.


In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Chin'ono argued that Mutodi’s statement was written under political pressure and reflects how power protects itself in Zimbabwe.

"When a Member of Parliament apologises to a powerful bureaucrat like Guvamatanga, it is rarely because the facts have changed. It is because truth-telling is punished and silence is rewarded. Mutodi’s letter is the political equivalent of a forced apology - tidy on paper but hollow in truth," he posted.

Chin'ono warned Zimbabweans not to be misled by what he called public-relations performances.

"The same Guvamatanga presides over a ministry at the centre of some of the worst historic financial scandals in our country's post-colonial history," he wrote.

He highlighted the contrast between the suffering of ordinary citizens and the lavish lifestyles of senior officials.

"Civil servants today go unpaid, hospitals have no medicines or medical equipment, pensioners are starving — yet senior officials throw champagne-soaked birthday parties as if poverty were a spectator sport," Chin'ono said.

"That is not leadership. It is gluttony disguised as service by people who host extravagant parties, inviting international artists and paying them twice what they asked, in a country where the same permanent secretary cannot release funds for basic painkillers in public hospitals."

Chin'ono added that Zimbabwe's economic collapse was not caused by tweets, but by the greed of officials like Guvamatanga, who he said are shielded by President Emmerson Mnangagwa's regime.

"Until there is genuine accountability, no apology letter, no press release, and no propaganda will wash away the stench of corruption that continues to choke Zimbabwe — whose main epicentre is the Ministry of Finance," he posted.

"When corruption forces Members of Parliament to write apology letters, the ink is made of stolen money."

He also reminded followers of Mutodi's role in Parliament.

"Energy Mutodi is a ZANU PF Member of Parliament. He chairs the Parliament's Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee, often called the Budget and Finance Committee, which gives him an oversight role over public finances and government spending."

"He has now been asked to bend his knee, and we know why, and we know by whom. But that will not change what he said — the horse has already bolted."