Energy Mutodi claims get more bizarre

By Lloyd Mbiba HARARE – The social media writings of controversial musician-cum-politician, Energy Mutodi — a prominent Zanu PF supporter and self-confessed follower of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa — is getting more bizarre by the day.

In his tall tales this week, he insinuated that Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko and Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo are allegedly part and parcel of the secessionist agenda that is being pushed in some sections of Matabeleland. Commenting on President Robert Mugabe’s Cabinet reshuffle on his Facebook page, Mutodi claimed that Moyo, now Higher Education minister, allegedly used State media as Information Tsar to attack Mnangagwa, while propping up Mphoko. “Professor Moyo’s transfer is the biggest positive development that has happened to cabinet which has been much anticipated after reports emerged that the learned Minister was using the Media Ministry to destroy the party from within, promote factionalism in favour of a G40 cabal as well as dictating the pace of the country’s succession politics. “Under the grand scheme, Professor Moyo would use Zimpapers and other private media houses to destroy Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s reputation using Gukurahundi as a way of blocking Mnangagwa’s chances on the Presidency whenever the time comes. “On the other hand, he would promote Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko and Saviour Kasukuwere, with Mphoko earmarked to takeover the Presidency from President Mugabe in line with the Unity Accord which Professor Moyo believes should ensure a situation where a Shona President is succeeded by a Ndebele one. “Upon Mphoko’s assumption of the Presidency, Moyo would ensure he serves only one term as President while he himself would be his Deputy allowing him to takeover from him as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence forces. “During their Presidency, Mphoko and Moyo would cause a referendum to be carried out which would ask the people of Matebeleland if they still wanted to remain a colony of Zimbabwe or form their own separate state called Mthwakazi. “In their forecasts, a Mthwakazi state would be easy to accomplish if a Ndebele leader was to emerge in the country and its first international partners would be South Africa and Russia. The Mthwakazi state is an unfinished job which they believe was left as work in progress by Dr Joshua Nkomo. “If allowed to materialise, the Mthwakazi state will take away the three provinces of Matebeleland South, North as well as Bulawayo and Victoria Falls from Zimbabwe. Once given a national status, Mthwakazi would be recognised by the UN and the Sadc and African Union the same as what happened with South Sudan. “It will also negotiate with South Africa to peacefully take over an original Mthwakazi land currently under Chief Gumede across the Limpopo. “A recent (Oceanic Omnipresence Organization) OOO report has also intimated that the Mthwakazi group is busy training in South Africa and has so far graduated 10 youths from Matebeleland who were trained in communism, intelligence, guerrilla tactics and sabotage. “They are training ahead of launching guerrilla attacks in Matebeleland and the whole of Zimbabwe perhaps starting with the disappearance of school children in Bulawayo which must instill fear and anger among residents, compelling them to advocate for a separate Ndebele State. “Their field commanders include a Mthwakazi youth trainer Ian Beddowes, a dissident Diliza Mangoye Dhlamini, a co-ordinator Prudence Mpofu who is Jason Ziyapapa Moyo’s grand daughter and trainer Andrew Nyathi who is also ZAPU’s South Africa Provincial spokesperson and a close friend of Frederick Mutanda. “Prudence Mpofu’s Facebook identity is Prudence JZ and she is now based in Bulawayo to coordinate Mthwakazi activities. The youths are being trained in a Conference room at a building close to a Nandos outlet in Braamfontein for a two-week course per cluster. “Works which the Mthwakazi establishment has already accomplished include the robbing of busses carrying Mashona-speaking people as they enter or exit South Africa. The robberies which are being done at gun point are being used as a revenge for Gukurahundi as well as a fund-raising venture.

“They have also successfully burnt busses and lorries carrying Mashona goods at South African bus rank stations and are also to burn travelers alive while going to South Africa, incidents of which would be publicized as xenophobia attacks,” Mutodi claimed. Asked by the Daily News yesterday if he was not advancing tribalism, regionalism and division in Zimbabwe, Mutodi said, “My post is not divisive at all. It is based on research. These are facts and facts can never be divisive. “We are not tribalists. The problem is that some people have a tribalistic agenda and not us. If a Shona person has an agenda, it’s not tribalistic, in the same way if a Ndebele has an agenda, it’s not tribalistic”. This is not the first time that the controversial businessmen has spewed controversial political conspiracies. Two weeks ago, analysts told the Daily News that the time may have come for Mnangagwa to publicly distance himself from Mutodi, whose social media postings are getting wackier by the day. At the same time, there were increasing questions about Mutodi’s mental and emotional state after the discredited musician spun yet another cranky plot on his Facebook page claiming that Mnangagwa was targeted for assassination by a prominent local businessman. In that posting, Mutodi claimed that an alleged “close ally of Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, businessman Frederick Mutanda” had since last year been plotting to assassinate the VP. “According to documents that are now in our possession, Frederick Mutanda approached former MDC-T treasury-general Roy Bennett in Fourways, South Africa, where he told him of his intention to assassinate Mnangagwa for what he said were unwarranted arrests and malicious Exchange Control crimes which were levelled against him at the direction of the VP in post-independence Zimbabwe. “During the meeting, Mutanda who intimated that he had served as chief bodyguard to the late VP Dr Joshua Nkomo emphasised the need to avenge sufferings he endured from Mnangagwa. He said he had been victimised by Mnangagwa for trying to expose the role he had played in the Gukurahundi killings as well as that of the President. “Mutanda also briefed Bennett how he had lost millions of dollars after the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ) bank auctioned off his personal property and goods held at Caps Holdings under the orders of VP Mnangagwa. “Mutanda then promised Bennett that he would help him recover his lost farmland in Chimanimani provided he helped him fight and oust Mnangagwa because he was sure that VP Mphoko was going to be the next president as they would strategically remove President Mugabe from power after tactfully isolating him from his strong and staunch supporters. “Mutanda further mentioned that there is no way Mphoko will not be President as they have a good link with Russians and the South African government who will help them in getting rid of President Mugabe as soon as Mnangagwa is eliminated. “Mutanda, who is said to be married to the late Joshua Nkomo’s daughter who was divorced by former Minister Francis Nhema is said to have disclosed in further meetings with different people that he was working with Professor Jonathan Moyo and Vice President Mphoko himself to make sure that Mnangagwa was blocked from taking over from President Mugabe. “He added that Mphoko would work with a Mthwakazi Liberation Front party to keep the Gukurahundi issue alive in Matabeleland while Professor Moyo would use Zimpapers and other media houses to discredit Mnangagwa,” Mutodi claimed. Virtually all the people who comment on Mutodi’s myriad claims on his Facebook page savage him, calling the conspiracy theories insane and contrived. Daily News