Tongai Matutu

Career

Tongai Matutu is a lawyer by profession and was a registered legal practitioner until he was barred from practising in December 2019 by the Law Society of Zimbabwe. Tongai was a founder member of the MDC when the party was launched in 1999. He was also the provincial secretary for Masvingo Province and in 2005 to March 2008 he was the MP for Masvingo Central before being elected the MP for Masvingo Urban on 29 March 2008. He was also an MDC’s national legal committee member. Matutu represented the MDC as a lawyer since 2000.

In the 2013 Elections, (see A History of Zimbabwean Elections) Masvingo Urban returned to Parliament:

• Daniel Shumba of Zanu PF with 10 988 votes or 48.94 percent,
• Tongai Matutu of MDC–T with 10 424 votes or 46.41 percent,
• Vitalis Paradza of MDC–N with 587 votes or 4.07 percent,
• Mable Mtshakatshi of ZAPU with 228 votes or 1.02 percent,
• Tichaona Revai of ZAPU with 149 votes or 0.66 percent.

Total 22 461 votes

Events

Barred from practising law

Zimbabwe’s former Youth Affairs Deputy Minister was barred from practicing law in December 2019. The Law Society of Zimbabwe Report showed that eight other lawyers were deregistered for various misdemeanors. The report said Matutu, a deputy minister in Zimbabwe’s inclusive Government (2008-2013), “failed to carry out a mandate”. ^[2]

Quitting the MDC

Mr Matutu dumped Tsvangirai’s party and teamed up with Mr Tendai Biti and others to form the People’s Democratic Party in 2014. The former legislator was disqualified from contesting the MDC Alliance Masvingo chairmanship in 2019 on the grounds that he once quit the party then led by late ex-Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai before he re-joined after heeding the MDC founding leader’s call for renegade members to return before his death.^[3]

Matutu dumped Biti’s PDP in 2016 and re-joined MDC as a card carrying member and revived his ambitions to be the provincial boss in Masvingo.

Joining Zanu PF

Former MDC-T legislator for Masvingo Central Tongai Matutu has joined Zanu PF saying the opposition party “in its various forms” has lost direction as it was now wasting precious time bickering among themselves. Matutu was welcomed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the two Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi at State House in Harare on 2 November 2020.^[4]

Arrested for Assault

Matutu, a former member of Parliament for the Movement for Democratic Change formation which was led by the late former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was alleged to have slapped and punched Chief Serima at the Matizha Business Center in September 2010. Matutu was considered to be the Tsvangirai MDC's main strategist in Masvingo and as such responsible for Zanu PF’s first ever defeat in the constituency, political sources said. Masvingo Magistrate Oliver Mudzongachiso found then Deputy Youth and Indigenisation Minister Tongai Matutu guilty of assaulting Masvingo Chief Serima, also known as Vengesai Rushwaya, ordering him to pay a fine of US$100. Matutu, who appealed the judgement, told VOA Studio 7 reporter Tatenda Gumbo that the charges against him were politically motivated.^[5]

US$75 000 Payment Allegations

In May 2022, Matutu alleged that he was paid US$75 000 by the United States of America Embassy in 2010 to assault Chief Serima in 2010.

He said the embassy wanted him to get arrested so that they would use his arrest to push the idea that there were gross human rights violations in Zimbabwe.^[6]

References