HARARE – Neville Mutsvangwa, the son of Zanu-PF spokesman Chris Mutsvangwa and Women’s Affairs Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, will remain in remand prison for a few more days after the High Court postponed ruling on his bail bid to May 27.
Justice Esther Muremba cited delays in receiving the typed record of proceedings from the lower court, where Neville was denied bail, as the reason for the postponement.
Neville was arrested on May 8 on charges of currency trading and money laundering.
His father, Chris Mutsvangwa, is blaming Vice President Constantino Chiwenga for his son’s arrest.
In an interview with The Standard recently, Mutsvangwa launched a scathing attack on Chiwenga, questioning his war credentials and accusing him of trying to manipulate the judiciary system.
“I have established beyond any doubt that Mnangagwa had not instigated the arrest, so it is somebody else who thinks that he is wearing the shoes of the head of state to manipulate the relationship between me and the president,” Mutsvangwa said, referring to Chiwenga’s reported ambitions to succeed Mnangagwa as Zanu-PF leader and President.
Mutsvangwa was keen to portray his relationship with Mnangagwa as close, despite being sacked from the cabinet in February for insubordination.
“I was one of Mnangagwa’s pioneer recruits to his office of personal assistant at the age of 22 in 1978, a year after Mnangagwa returned to Mozambique from Tanzania,” he said.
“Remember, the war was in Mozambique and not in Tanzania… I think that proximity to him, my proximity to the president, they think through their post-independence proximity to the president they can influence him against me, or me against him.”
Mutsvangwa also took a swipe at Chiwenga’s war record, saying, “Chiwenga arrived from Tanzania in 1978, a year before we won, a year before victory… The war effort mainly involved sabotage activities on infrastructure and sporadic attacks on white farmers.”
Neville’s mother, Monica Mutsvangwa, has already claimed that her son’s arrest was “political victimisation.”