Deputy minister of Information Energy Mutodi has been fired ‘with immediate effect,’ Presidential Communications secretary Regis Chikowere announced the development in a statement Wednesday evening.
This followed his mindless tweet earlier, where he claimed the recently abducted MDC Alliance leaders had been assaulted by artisanal miners in Bindura after they demanded payment in foreign currency for sexual services. The tweet was roundly condemned.
Mutodi recently crossed swords with Foreign minister Sibusiso Moyo, after the deputy minister appeared to taunt Tanzania in a Twitter post.
He also revealed that he was living in fear from possible harm at the hands of Moyo and Christopher Mutsvangwa, the war veterans leader who is very close to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mutsvangwa and SB Moyo played a central role in the 2017 coup that resurrected Mnangagwa from the dead after Mugabe fired him for “insubordination and incompetence.”
The former was a leading figure and chief evangelist in the days of the Lacoste faction while the later led the coup from the front and was the military voice during and after the siege that ended Mugabe’s reign.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of public interest around the dismissal of Mutodi as Deputy Minister for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services.
Mutodi is a trained High school teacher who has also tried his hand in music, real estate, and seem to have banked on political connections.
As if to confirm his connectedness to the highest office in the land, Mutodi featured the tea mug photograph that angered late former president Robert Mugabe.
In the picture, Mutodi could be seen posing for the camera with the then Vice-President Mnangagwa, wielding the mug inscribed ‘I AM THE BOSS.’
Mutodi’s connections could have made him one of the untouchables, amid unruly conducts in real estate that left a trail of conning, embezzlement, broken promises, legal battles, undelivered results, public anguish, mass betrayal, and lost investments.
People invested millions of dollars in Mutodi’s housing project, only to be told a number of excuses.
Meanwhile, according to some analysts Mutodi’s firing has nothing less to do with his recent tweet.
They say it signals a fall out in political favour, adding that a number of Mnangagwa’s close cronies have made several slurs, and unruly sentiments but they were not fired.
Political scientist at a local university in the capital, Dr Takudzwa Mbofana says Mutodi’s dismissal should be understood in the broader context of ZANU-PF’s modus operandi.
There is no one who can safely claim to be the owner of the system called ZANU-PF. There were many untouchables who ended up in the cold.
There were many people who thought they were the real owners of the system, but were ejected the likes of Ndabaningi Sithole and a lot others.
“Mnangagwa himself was once fired by this system. Who could imagine Mugabe could be fired from the same system he created and presided over for many years?” he says.
“When you fall out of favour with this system, they would do everything to finish you off. The next thing is seeing some allegations thrown at Mutodi and they could arrest him too,” he added.
However, Alex Magaisa thinks otherwise, he says ZANU-PF doesn’t change, it is a place where old stock is recycled and presented as new stuff somewhere within the corridors.
“In ZANU PF, recycling is the norm. Don’t be surprised when Energy pops up in another part of the system.
“You’d all forgotten about Charity Charamba and Johannes Tomana till you saw them at the diplomats training school last week! Soon they’ll be ambassadors. ZANU PF doesn’t change,” he says.
zwnews
