By Lance Guma
Bulawayo provincial governor Cain Mathema refused to meet the United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Bruce Wharton because his government slapped targeted travel and financial restrictions on members of the Mugabe regime.
Wharton was on a maiden tour of Bulawayo and wanted to pay a courtesy call on the governor. The Zanu PF controlled state media quotes Mathema saying “I am aware that Wharton is here, but I have not met him.”
“I do not have him in my schedule and I do not want to meet him because his government imposed sanctions on us. If he comes to my office he will have to explain why there are sanctions on Zimbabwe,” Mathema is quoted saying.
The U.S. government first applied targeted sanctions in 2003 and targeted fewer than 120 individuals accused of aiding and abetting the gross human rights abuses committed by the Zanu PF regime. This saw key members in the regime being slapped with travel and financial restrictions.
The US ambassador meanwhile took to social networking site Twitter and wrote on his @BruceWharton account “Shame that governor Mathema (was) not willing to meet. I would have benefited from his views and progress requires respectful sharing of ideas.”
Ambassador Wharton would not have benefited much from meeting the controversially appointed Mathema. A court case brought about by his wife in 2009 exposed the governor as a sex-mad abusive alcoholic.
In September that year Mathema hit the headlines after being extremely offensive to his wife about her private parts, saying they were ‘too wide’ and that he wanted to marry a virgin to satisfy his ravenous sexual appetite.
The Governor at the time was reported to be having an affair with ZBC reporter Jocelyn Muguya. Mathema’s wife sought to divorce him, arguing in court that he was an alcoholic and was very abusive every time he arrived home drunk.
She said the abuse also took place in front of the children.
To contact this journalist email [email protected] or follow him @LanceGuma
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