HARARE – MDC T leader Douglas Mwonzora on Sunday doubled back on comments which appeared to attack the quality of education at the Harare Polytechnic.
Mwonzora lost his rug while responding to criticism by political analyst Pedzisai Ruhanya.
Writing on Twitter last Saturday, Ruhanya charged: “In Zimbabwe’s modern, contemporary history, there is no person and political party that beats Douglas Mwonzora and MDC-T in selling out and betraying the cause of the masses.”
Ruhanya also claimed Mwonzora had “close relations with Zanu PF” while also accusing him of “democratic subversion.”
Mwonzora did not take kindly to Ruhanya’s assessment of his political project. He equated the Harare Polytechnic where Ruhanya studied journalism before going on to university in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom to Morogoro, a Tanzanian primary training camp for freedom for fighters during the war of independence.
“My brother that is why they say you have to directly go to university not via Morogoro. Poly ruined you my brother,” Mwonzora lashed out.
The comment drew criticism from Zimbabweans on Twitter, including from the former minister of higher education Jonathan Moyo who accused Mwonzora of having a “filthy mind”.
“Your views on education are so demented and corrupt that no parent or guardian would want to be your neighbour, let alone to have you as a leader in their political party,” Moyo charged.
The National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA), a group of political parties, said in a brief statement: “Such insensitive mockery of lived experiences of many people is uncalled for.”
Mwonzora later took back his words, tweeting: “I apologise unreservedly to the good Zimbabweans who may have found this tweet offensive. I was attacking the type of student politics at the Polytechnical college during Mr Ruhanya’s time and not the quality of education there. Once again sorry.”
