adminThe sizeable crowd of Zanu-PF supporters, estimated at over 4 000, which gathered at short notice in Headlands last week to endorse the dismissal from the ruling party of Didymus Mutasa, is concrete proof of the censure by his constituents, who have described him as “demonic”.For decades Mutasa, who has been touted as the godfather of Manicaland, has never been challenged and his word was unquestioned. Anyone in the province who wanted to ascend to power had to get his blessings ever since his predecessor Maurice Nyagumbo died in 1989.
Messages on the placards carried by the supporters reveal a lot, but most importantly, the fact that people were broken, demoralised and subjugated. It is apparent they were under the lock and key of Mutasa and had nowhere to turn to. Here, we have a man loathed by the people he publicly claimed to represent.
What has also clearly come out is the fact that Mutasa unashamedly imposed himself on the people of Headlands, cowing them into submitting to his wicked whims and caprices. This, he also extended at the national level. A glance at some of his despicable deeds and utterances reveals a wicked mind with absurd ambitions.
One case in point is when in 2012, Mutasa told a private newspaper that “it would be abnormal” for Mnangagwa to be catapulted to the Presidency ahead of the fired Vice-President Joice Mujuru. He went further to say “Mnangagwa was no way near the throne’’, and placed Mujuru as a better candidate “in seniority and capacity” to lead the ruling party.
Said the cunning and calculating Mutasa: “We have a hierarchy that we follow as a party, Mai Mujuru is better placed . . . or even SK Moyo, and those are the people who can take over today.’’
His constituents are berating his uncaring attitude and his insensitivity and inattentiveness to their pains and problems. His departure is something long overdue. The former Zanu-PF secretary for Administration is notorious in Manicaland. Before his fall, he was indeed, a dreaded man in Headlands, Rusape and even beyond. The mere mention of his name by his “messengers” would invoke trepidation and capitulation. Only a few would be brave enough to say no to his orders. Mutasa’s election to represent the people of Headlands in the House of Assembly could be best described as a “wasted mandate”. Those who care to speak, lament the non-performance of their lawmaker. There is nothing on the ground to show for it, and people feel they will be better off without him. People he represents have labelled his constituency projects as window dressing, when he named some of the projects after his surname and totem, Nyati. It is therefore our strong view that the abysmal performance of Mutasa as a member of the House of Assembly for Headlands has only confirmed the initial feelings that he is an unwanted stranger.
Now ravaged with arthritis, Mutasa is a former shadow of himself. The then first black Speaker of Parliament of independent Zimbabwe is fighting a losing battle on all fronts. He wants to portray the ruling party as leaderless and disorganised. His problem is his unrestrained ego and big mouth, which must be checked without further delay.
His warped mentality of thinking that he is the alpha and omega of Zanu-PF, is now in the full glare of the public. Right-thinking people no longer take him seriously. They are simply dismissing him with contempt. And those he is claiming to be speaking on behalf of, have not only disassociated themselves from him, but also scoffed at his narrow and laughable judgment.
The people of Makoni district rejected him in the Central Committee elections which were held in a free, fair and transparent environment. Mutasa himself admitted after the elections that they were indeed credible. He is therefore whining for nothing. His expulsion from Zanu-PF should pave the way for a by-election in his constituency which if he attempts to contest, he will be practically humiliated and shown that he is now a political nonentity, a spent force who only benefited from President Mugabe’s goodwill for all these years.
Online Reporter