Didymus Mutasa
Encyclopedia
Didymus Noel Edwin Mutasa (born July 27, 1935) is a Zimbabwe
an politician, currently serving as the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs
and as the Secretary for Administration of ZANU-PF.
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.
and others.(Personal visit in 1971).
Following independence, Mutasa was Zimbabwe's first Speaker of Parliament from 1980 to 1990. He has served as the Member of Parliament for Makoni North
and as a member of the ZANU-PF Politburo; he is the party's Secretary for Administration and has also served as its Secretary for External Affairs.
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. 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."
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; he was then appointed as State Security Minister in mid-April 2005, following the March 2005 parliamentary election, later Minister of State for National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement in the President's Office
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
. He won the seat with 7,257 votes against 4,235 for Fambirayi Tsimba of the Movement for Democratic Change
, according to official results.
In 2007, he was involved in a bizarre hoax involving a witch doctor and refined diesel gushing from a rock.
. 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.
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." In December 2009 it was again claimed that Mutasawas behind some of the farm invasions.
(2009) as one of the speakers on land reform in Africa.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
an politician, currently serving as the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs
Minister of State for Presidential Affairs (Zimbabwe)
The Minister of State for Presidential Affairs is a non-cabinet ministerial position in the government of Zimbabwe. The incumbent is Didymus Mutasa. The duties of the position have yet to be publicly defined....
and as the Secretary for Administration of ZANU-PF.
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-BrockGuy Clutton-Brock
Arthur Guy Clutton-Brock was an English social worker, who became a Zimbabwean nationalist and co-founder of Cold Comfort Farm....
and others.(Personal visit in 1971).
Following independence, Mutasa was Zimbabwe's first Speaker of Parliament from 1980 to 1990. He has served as the Member of Parliament for Makoni North
Makoni North
Makoni North is a constituency in the Makoni district of Manicaland province....
and as a member of the ZANU-PF Politburo; he is the party's Secretary for Administration and has also served as its Secretary for External Affairs.
In April 1998, Mutasa, in defending President Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
, 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. 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."
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; he was then appointed as State Security Minister in mid-April 2005, following the March 2005 parliamentary election, later Minister of State for National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement in the President's Office
In the March 2008 parliamentary election
Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2008
A parliamentary election was held in Zimbabwe on March 29, 2008 to elect members to both the House of Assembly and the Senate of the Zimbabwean parliament...
, Mutasa was nominated by ZANU-PF as its candidate for the House of Assembly
House of Assembly of Zimbabwe
The House of Assembly of Zimbabwe is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. It was the unicameral legislative body from 1989 until late November 2005, when the Senate was re-introduced....
seat from Headlands constituency in Manicaland
Manicaland
Manicaland is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of and a population of approximately 1.6 million . Mutare is the capital of the province. -Background:...
. He won the seat with 7,257 votes against 4,235 for Fambirayi Tsimba of the Movement for Democratic Change
Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai
The Movement for Democratic Change Zimbabwe is a political party and the largest party in the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe. It is the main formation formed from the split of the original Movement for Democratic Change in 2005.-Foundation:...
, according to official results.
In 2007, he was involved in a bizarre hoax involving a witch doctor and refined diesel gushing from a rock.
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 reformLand reform in Zimbabwe
Land reform in Zimbabwe officially began in 1979 with the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, an effort to more equitably distribute land between the historically disenfranchised blacks and the minority-whites who ruled Zimbabwe from 1890 to 1979...
. An international tribunal in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
. The government also seized the farms of 50 Europeans, citizens of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
who will soon be heard by the tribunal. The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
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.
On June 12, 2007, Mutasa announced the government planned to deport all whites
Whites in Zimbabwe
White Zimbabweans are people from the southern African country Zimbabwe who identify themselves as white...
, 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." In December 2009 it was again claimed that Mutasawas behind some of the farm invasions.
Film appearance
Didymus Mutasa is set to be featured in the Pan-African film MotherlandMotherland (film)
Motherland is a 2010 independent documentary film directed and written by Owen 'Alik Shahadah. Motherland is the sequel to the multiaward winning film 500 Years Later.- Synopsis:...
(2009) as one of the speakers on land reform in Africa.