Former MDC MP for Masvingo Urban, Tongai Matutu, has distanced himself from a Twitter account that bears his name that listed the names of opposition figures who allegedly called for sanctions against Zimbabwe.
In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, Matutu said he did not write the list and that he has no evidence that his former colleagues in the opposition hate their country. He said:
I crossed the floor to ZANU PF but I have no bad blood with those in the opposition. I have no reason to paint them as villains who hate their country if I don’t have any evidence against them. I don’t know the naughty author of that list.
I have no reason to bootlick ZANU PF. I have not benefited from anything that can push me to lie. I am my own man that’s why I crossed the floor alone.
If you check my lifestyle, would you conclude that I have been given a million dollars? That’s just hogwash. I have never been to America in my entire life.
If you check the document properly that is not a signature. This is not the first time that I have met such mischief. The last time my name was used in the Chief Serima saga but I decided to keep quiet.
What I know is that there is a ghost account using my name to cause confusion both in the opposition and the country at large.
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.
Charles Musimiki, who also defected to ZANU PF last year and is on the list of those who allegedly campaigned for sanctions against Zimbabwe, told The Mirror that the furthest he went outside Zimbabwe was to Pretoria.
The minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi said he doesn’t know about the open letter that was allegedly written to him by Matutu. He said:
I don’t even know the letter that you are talking about. An open letter is not delivered so I didn’t see it because I am not on Twitter.