Police last week summoned and interviewed Zanu PF Masvingo District Coordinating Committee (DCC) secretary for security, Esau Mutanho, over the violence he allegedly unleashed during the disruption of opposition politician Job Sikhala’s biography launch in Masvingo in July this year.According to a police source , officers are deeply reluctant to arrest the man.
Masvingo Police Spokesperson, Kudakwashe Dhewa, quoted by Masvingo Mirror, however said progress of the case has been stalled by the absence of the gadget used to take the videos.
“The matter is already at the courts but we have been advised to get the gadget used in taking the videos so that we can verify the evidence with our Cyber Laboratory. According to our records, the gadget used to take the videos is a phone belonging to Vurayayi Zembe. We have for some time been asking for that phone and it still has not been handed to us,” said Dhewa.
Sikhala and Munyaradzi Angero Savanhu, who is both the complainant against the alleged violence and the author of the book, confirmed that police wanted Zembe’s mobile phone to complete their evidence.Mutanho, who has appeared on several occasions causing violence at public functions, is a driver for Masvingo Provincial Minister Ezra Chadzamira. He reportedly drives a vehicle for Masvingo West, Chadzamira’s constituency, where Chadzamira is the elected MP.Police sources said that while investigators could technically proceed with the court case using alternative evidence, Mutanho’s political connections make him effectively untouchable.
“He is too powerful and too well-connected for us to move against him aggressively,” said one police source.
There are growing concerns that the matter, reported by Savanhu under RRB 6403795 on July 23, 2025, might be stalled or deliberately slowed due to Mutanho’s influence.
