Didymus Mutasa

The Honourable Didymus Mutasa MP
Minister of State for Presidential Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 February 2009
President	Robert Mugabe
Prime Minister	Morgan Tsvangirai
Minister of State for National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement in the President's Office of Zimbabwe
In office April 2005 – 13 February 2009
President	Robert Mugabe
Succeeded by	Sydney Sekeramayi
Minister of Special Affairs in the President's Office in charge of the Anti-Corruption and Anti-Monopolies Programme
In office February 2004 – April 2005
President	Robert Mugabe
Speaker of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe
In office 1980 – XXXX
President	Canaan Banana
Prime Minister	Robert Mugabe
Preceded by	John Ruredzo (Southern Rhodesia)
Succeeded by	Nolan Makombe
Personal details
Born	27 July 1935 (1935-07-27) (age 76)
Died	Southern Rhodesia
Nationality	Zimbabwean
Political party	ZANU-PF
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Farmer
Religion	Catholic

Didymus Noel Edwin Mutasa (born July 27, 1935)^[1] is a Zimbabwean politician, currently serving as the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs^[2] and as the Secretary for Administration of ZANU-PF.^[3]

Family background

Didymus Mutasa was born in Rusape, a town close to the Zimbabwe/Mozambique border in Africa, in 1935 to that of a devout Christian couple; as their sixth child. The Mutasa surname relates to a Chieftanship name that comes from Mozambique. A Chief Mutasa is referred to in Portugese documents of old and was known to the slave traders and explorers of the day and was commonly called 'Famba Basuku' which more or less means 'The leopard walks'. Chief Mutasa befriended early Portuguese traders called 'Capita Mors' with the grizzly slave trading of Mozambique. Ref: 'Zambezia' E.P.Mathers 1891. Reprinted by 'Rhodesiana Reprint Library' Mardon Printers, 1977.

Academic credentials

Former student of Fircroft College of Adult Education in Birmingham, Uk. Attended the Access to Higher Education Course.

Political career

Before independence he was chairman of the Cold Comfort Farm society, a non-racial cooperative community near Salisbury (as it then was). This was located on a farm formerly belonging to Lord Acton. It was promoted by Guy Clutton-Brock and others.(Personal visit in 1971).

Following independence, Mutasa was Zimbabwe's first Speaker of Parliament from 1980 to 1990.^[4] He has served as the Member of Parliament for Makoni North^[5] and as a member of the ZANU-PF Politburo;^[6] he is the party's Secretary for Administration^[3][7] and has also served as its Secretary for External Affairs.^[8]

In April 1998, Mutasa, in defending President Robert Mugabe, said that if Mugabe were pressed to step down, then the entire Cabinet and Politburo should step down along with him, because, in Mutasa's view, if Mugabe had truly "stayed for too long and misgoverned", then those who had governed with him, "including those who are calling on Mugabe to step down", must have done so as well.^[6] In 2002, he controversially said that it would be a good thing if the population were halved: "We would be better off with only six million people, with our own people who supported the liberation struggle. We don't want all these extra people."^[4]

He was appointed as Minister of Special Affairs in the President's Office in charge of the Anti-Corruption and Anti-Monopolies Programme on February 9, 2004;^[5] he was then appointed as State Security Minister in mid-April 2005, following the March 2005 parliamentary election,^[7] later Minister of State for National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement in the President's Office^[9]

In the March 2008 parliamentary election, Mutasa was nominated by ZANU-PF as its candidate for the House of Assembly seat from Headlands constituency in Manicaland.^[10] He won the seat with 7,257 votes against 4,235 for Fambirayi Tsimba of the Movement for Democratic Change, according to official results.^[11]

In 2007, he was involved in a bizarre hoax involving a witch doctor and refined diesel gushing from a rock.^[12]

Background

In 2002 the Zimbabwean government seized the farms of ten citizens of the Netherlands who resided in Zimbabwe, ostensibly as part of the government's land reform. An international tribunal in Paris, France summoned Mutasa to testify about the seizure in November 2007. Mutasa acknowledged on August 12, 2007 that the Zimbabwean government took their farms without their permission and without compensating them monetarily. The farmers are represented by British lawyer Matthew Coleman, assisted by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, and pay no legal fees as these are picked up by AgricAfrica, a British-Zimbabwean organization. The court is expected to rule on their case by March 2008. The farmers are asking for US$48 million (33 million euros) in compensation and the government has pledged to reimburse them when it is financially possible. If the government does not compensate the farmers and the court rules in their favor then they may seize any property of the government equivalent to what they are owed as long as that property is outside Europe, including foreign aid from the World Bank. The government also seized the farms of 50 Europeans, citizens of Switzerland, Germany, and Denmark who will soon be heard by the tribunal. The European Union sanctioned top-members of Zimbabwe's government with a visa ban in protest of the government's abuses, but lifted the sanction so Mutasa could defend the government at the tribunal.^[13]

On June 12, 2007, Mutasa announced the government planned to deport all whites, saying, "The position is that food shortages or no food shortages, we are going ahead to remove the remaining whites. Too many blacks are still clamoring for land and we will resettle them on the remaining farms."^[14] In December 2009 it was again claimed that Mutasawas behind some of the farm invasions.^{[15] [16]}

Film appearance

Didymus Mutasa is set to be featured in the Pan-African film Motherland (2009) as one of the speakers on land reform in Africa.^[17]

See also

• Joint Operations Command

References

1. ^ Page at Zimbabwean Parliament website (2006 archive).
2. ^ "Cabinet sworn in amid chaotic scenes". NewZimbabwe.com. 13 Feb 2009. http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/minister20.19389.html. Retrieved 2009-02-13. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Cris Chinaka, "Zanu-PF decides plan of action", Reuters (IOL), April 4, 2008.
4. ^ ^{a b} Trevor Grundy, "Whatever Happened to Didymus Mutasa?", Institute for War Reporting (kubatana.net), October 2, 2006.
5. ^ ^{a b} "Mugabe rewards loyalists in new Cabinet", New Zimbabwe (zimbabwesituation.com), February 9, 2004.
6. ^ ^{a b} "Mugabe should not quit alone – minister", Zimbabwe News Online, Edition #18, April 15, 1998.
7. ^ ^{a b} "MP's sworn in, new ministers appointed", SADOCC, April 16, 2005.
8. ^ Basildon Peta, "ANC invites Mugabe to attend party conference", Cape Times, December 13, 2002, page 5.
9. ^ [1], Parliament of Zimbabwe.gov.zw
10. ^ "Zimbabwe: Zanu-PF Names Poll Candidates", The Herald (allAfrica.com), February 15, 2008.
11. ^ Results page for Headlands, sokwanele.com.
12. ^ [2]
13. ^ Mugabe Government Admits Zimbabwe White Farmers Were Wronged Voice Of America
14. ^ [3] The Zimbabwe Guardian
15. ^ "Farming family forced to flee after threats by land invaders". SW Radio Africa News. 24 Dec 2009. http://www.swradioafrica.com/news241209/farmingfamily241209.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-08. 
16. ^ Mutasa, Muchinguri Lock Horns Over Farm Seizure Standard
17. ^ Motherland Film

External links

• Whatever Happened to Didymus Mutasa?

Persondata
Name	Mutasa, Didymus
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 27, 1935
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death	Southern Rhodesia