Former MDC Member of Parliament for Masvingo Urban Tongai Matutu has claimed he was instrumental in inviting economic sanctions against Zimbabwe.
In an open letter directed to the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Matutu said he and other members of the opposition had made various visits to America to plead for the renewal of the sanctions.
Matutu was appointed the Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Deputy Minister during the Government of National Unity (GNU) by the then Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
He left the MDC and joined ZANU PF in 2020 after claiming that the opposition had lost direction.
In a statement he shared on his Twitter page on Friday, Matutu called for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to bring to book all opposition figures who campaigned for sanctions to be imposed on Zimbabwe. Part of Matutu’s statement reads:
I and my fellow compatriots now in the CCC participated in this gruesome invasion of this country alongside Western countries who gave us millions of dollars for such an evil act that resulted in the death of so many innocent people. I do hereby apologise to Zimbabweans for waging direct economic warfare against them.
To the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, I understand the seriousness of the crime we all committed while in the MDC, therefore 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.
I have incriminating evidence that l am ready to present before the commission so as to get justice for the general citizens who suffer as the West continue to wage an unholy war against our economy.
Names, documents, bank statements, recordings and photos that I will produce the moment I am going to testify in front of the nation.
I also urge the Government to act quickly on the Patriotic Act and the Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO) amendments. If we had both of these laws back then, none of this could have happened.