MDC-T, Mutasa evasive over rigging secrets

Report by The Zimbabwean

Former state security minister Didymus Mutasa and MDC-T are skirting the issue of whether or not they have shared secrets on vote rigging that the former promised to share with the opposition party last month.

Mutasa, also the former Zanu (PF) national secretary for administration who worked in President Robert Mugabe’s office as a senior minister, publicly acknowledged in June that he had information on how his former party rigged the 2008 elections.

He promised to share the information with MDC-T, but efforts to establish developments regarding this yielded nothing. Mutasa said he was ready to testify in court over the matter. “If the MDC-T approaches me, then I will consider that matter (to stand as a witness),” Mutasa said.

Mugabe was handed his first official defeat by Morgan Tsvangirai of MDC-T in the 2008 presidential polls.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) withheld poll results for more than a month and when it did, Tsvangirai was still leading even though without the 50 percent and one vote required for him to form a government on his own.

He later withdrew from a presidential run-off which was marred by widespread politically motivated violence, leaving Mugabe as the sole runner. There has been speculation that the results of the first poll were doctored to ensure that Tsvangirai did not get an outright win.

Contacted to find out if MDC-T had approached him after his promise, Mutasa said: “I am not sure what the is the context of your question” and ignored a second Whatsapp message.

Obert Gutu, the MDC-T national spokesperson, was also evasive. “We are always in consultation with like-minded people seeking peace and democracy. We are always in touch with them on a broad range of issues,” he said.