Mnangagwa defends Mutsvangwa ‘visa’ outburst

By Staff Reporter

Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has defended deputy Foreign Affairs minister Christopher Mutsvangwa who attacked his boss, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, saying he embarrassed the First Lady Grace Mugabe by applying for her Belgian travel visa, knowing very well this would be rejected. 

During ministers’ question time in Parliament, Kuwadzana East MDC-T MP Nelson Chamisa asked whether there was a government fallout between the Foreign Affairs Minister and his deputy over the matter.

Mnangagwa meanwhile said: “It is his (Mutsvangwa’s ) democratic right to ask such a question. People should be allowed to air their opinions and there is government unity and the centre is still holding. You are a member of the MDC which speaks of democracy, this is part of it.”

Speaking on a ZiFM talk show on Monday evening, Mutsvangwa said “What the Minister and the PermSec did was ill advised.

“It was pointless for the two to apply for the visa of the first lady knowing fully well that it would be turned down. Why did they apply for the visa when there were indications she will not get a visa,” Mutsvangwa argued.

“It’s a difficult ministry. There are only two people; Mumbengegwi and Bimha, I’m not part of the decision making, I’m new there. They run it the way they want, it’s a fiefdom at the foreign affairs ministry and no one knows what the two are doing. But the decisions they make have a bearing on the nation.

“Let me tell you that I’m coming from a revolutionary background with an impeccable record, having fought in the liberation struggle when the minister (Mumbengegwi) was at the margins of the war, sitting somewhere in Europe enjoying the hospitality of the imperialist and the PermSec (Bimha) was working in the then Muzorerwa Regime,” he said.

“So if you put that into perspective, that makes them my juniors. So as a revolutionary and as a comrade, I would not have put my first lady in a position where she is denied visa by foreign countries,” Mutsvangwa said.

The EU removed most individuals and companies linked to the Mugabe regime from their targeted sanctions list but retained Mugabe and his wife. The sanctions were put in place in response to gross human rights abuses.