FORMER MDC-T vice president Obert Gutu says his recent decision to dump his party has automatically cut any links he had with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Political Actors Dialogue Platform (POLAD).
Gutu resigned from the Thokozani Khupe led party citing “personal and private” reasons.
His political future has been subject to speculation by Zimbabweans who have watched the Harare lawyer and former legislator’s political career blossom up to the time he became deputy justice minister in the now defunct inclusive government.
Even after leaving his party, Gutu has found it difficult to repel further speculation, including that of his association with the multi-party dialogue platform which brings together President Mnangagwa and leaders of parties that contested Zimbabwe’s 2018 presidential elections.
Gutu took to Twitter to state his position.
“There is some confusion regarding my continued membership of Polad. I would like to put the record straight that I am no longer a member of Polad. Accordingly, I am not associated with Polad in any manner of form. Kindly be advised accordingly,” he said.
He added, “I resigned from the MDC-T under whose umbrella I was a deployee in Polad. After resigning from the MDC-T, I ceased to be a Polad member.”
Gutu is still an ardent defender of Polad, which has come under fire among some Zimbabweans for what they feel was an inconsequential political grouping whose members do not command any meaningful following in the country.
Asked on Twitter if he believed Polad could influence any positive change in the country, Gutu said, “I honestly do not know, I am not a prophet and I cannot prophesy into future events, but on record I am stating that Polad must be repackaged and rebranded, I still stand by that submission.”
Gutu was elected at Vice President of the MDC-T in 2018.
Prior to that, he was a member of the MDC which is now led by Nelson Chamisa in which he was fired following leadership disagreements after the death of founding president Morgan Tsvangirai. – Newzim
