THE mystery over former Zanu PF’s secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa ’s missing “damning” letter to Sadc leaders deepened yesterday, as he said he suspected embassy staff in London and South Africa might be sitting on it.
SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER
Mutasa said he sent his letter to the South African embassy in London via their Zimbabwean counterparts and they may have sat on it, instead of forwarding it to their principals.
“Could you find out from their London embassies?” he said.
Efforts to get comment from Zimbabwe’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Gabriel Machinga and his South African counterpart, were fruitless yesterday.
President Robert Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba on Monday said neither he nor his boss had seen Mutasa’s letter.
South African President Jacob Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj denied knowledge of the missive.
Mugabe was expected to fly into a storm when he returned from his annual holiday, as he might have had to respond to Mutasa’s letter, but in the absence of the correspondence, a potential headache may have been cleared.
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The president may have been forced to respond to the letter as it was reportedly addressed to the Sadc leader, in his capacity as the chairman of the regional bloc.
However, Mutasa’s admission that he sent his letter to Zuma through London may give his adversaries ammunition as they have claimed that there was a third force pushing him to confront Mugabe.
In a country where Zanu PF sees opposing Mugabe as sacrilegious, there is an entrenched belief that any opposition is sponsored by the West and Mutasa may have lent credence to that belief.
Mutasa and his allies are reportedly planning a court challenge following last month’s congress, which purged all Zanu PF members believed to be aligned to sacked Vice-President Joice Mujuru.
They claim the congress resolutions were unconstitutional and they did not recognise it.
