Ousted former Zanu PF Marondera East MP and deputy minister of Labour Tracy Mutinhiri set tongues wagging yesterday after she turned up at the burial of Transport deputy minister and MDC-T Senator Tichaona Mudzingwa in Harare, raising speculation that she might have formally joined the party.
Mutinhiri, who was stripped of her ministerial post by President Robert Mugabe recently, fell out of favour with Zanu PF last year over her alleged close links with the MDC-T.
Prior to her axing from the party, she had been spotted at several functions in the company of MDC-T officials.
But Mutinhiri yesterday denied joining the Morgan Tsvangirai-led party, insisting she had only attended as one of Mudzingwas relatives.
I am here to mourn Mudzingwa who is my relative, said Mutinhiri who appeared comfortable seated in the VIP tent in the company of Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Bit, among others.
She was seated next to Ian Makone, Tsvangirais confidante and chief secretary in the Prime Ministers Office.
MDC-T officials who spoke to NewsDay said they would welcome her if she decides to join the party. Without confirming whether Mutinhiri was a relative of the late Mudzingwa or not, deputy Minister of Media, Information and Publicity Murisi Zwizwai acknowledged Mutinhiris presence much to the jubilation of MDC-T supporters in attendance.
Mutinhiris woes at Zanu PF started when she joined the MDC-T in mourning the death of a brother, Innocent Muzuva, a party activist who died in an accident while coming from the MDC-Ts 11 anniversary in 2010.
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She later courted the ire of the former sole ruling party when she accompanied Tsvangirai to Manicaland on a government programme organised by her ministry and later Tsvangirai to his homestead in Buhera.
Soon after Zanu PF national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo lost the bid to be elected Speaker of the House of Assembly, the party conducted a witch-hunt to sniff out party MPs who had sold out, and the net implicated Mutinhiri as one of them.
In July last year, Mutinhiris farm was invaded by a group of Zanu PF activists who accused her of selling out to the MDC-T.
