New twist to MDC’s wars

By Fungai Kwaramba On May 22, 2020

Fungi Kwaramba
POLITICAL EDITOR
kwarambaf@dailynews.co.zw

©️ THE battle for the control of the MDC took a new twist yesterday after Nelson Chamisa’s allies convened a meeting in Harare that was attended by many of the party’s 2014 members, the Daily News reports.

The gathering proceeded to petition the party’s interim leadership led by Thokozani Khupe to convene a 2014 leaders’ meeting next month.

This comes as the High Court is expected to make a ruling on Friday next week, on who has the power to recall party MPs between the interim leadership and the Chamisa group — who have been involved in a hammer and tongs tussle for control of the country’s main opposition party.

All this also comes after the Supreme Court recently annulled Chamisa’s 2018 ascendency to the leadership of the party — with the apex court going on to install Khupe as interim MDC president, with the mandate to organise an extraordinary congress within three months of the ruling to elect a new party leader.

Yesterday, 158 out of the 191 members of the 2014 MDC national council (NC) are said to have met at the party’s national headquarters in Harare, where they petitioned Khupe, reinstated secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora and national chairperson Morgen Komichi, to hold a meeting on June 6 to iron out the sticking issues arising from the Supreme Court ruling.

“We the leaders of the former national council of the former MDC resolve to petition within 14 days the former standing committee members, including Komichi and Mwonzora, to facilitate a national council meeting on the 6th of June to respond to the Supreme Court judgment and to resolve to push Mwonzora, Komichi and Khupe to act on behalf of the former national council and its organs prior to the June 6 meeting,” yesterday’s gathering resolved.

The members of the MDC’s 2014 national standing committee included the late Morgan Tsvangirai (president), Khupe (deputy president), Lovemore Moyo (national chairperson), Komichi (deputy national chairperson, Mwonzora (secretary-general) and Abednico Bhebhe (organising secretary).

Other members were Paurina Mpariwa (deputy secretary general), Theresa Makone (treasurer general) and Chalton Hwende (deputy treasurer general), Amos Chibaya (deputy organising secretary), Obert Gutu (secretary for information and publicity), Thabitha Khumalo (deputy secretary for information and publicity secretary),

Lynnette Karenyi Kore (Women’s Assembly chairperson) and Happymore Chidziva (Youth Assembly chairperson).

But Mwonzora told the Daily News last night that although he would consider the petition, the demands by his erstwhile colleagues for a meeting of the national standing committee were “a little too late” since another national council meeting had already set the date for the court-directed extraordinary congress.

“If they are acknowledging the Supreme Court decision and … the constitution of the MDC, then I will look at their petition, but there is no need for a meeting to discuss the Supreme Court ruling.
“However, what is clear is that today’s (yesterday’s) meeting is not a meeting in terms of the constitution of the
MDC.
“It cannot be the meeting of the national council because such a meeting is convened by the secretary general and chaired by the national chairperson. I will, however, look at the substance of their petition,” Mwonzora told the Daily News.

This comes as the MDC’s interim leadership has successfully recalled Hwende (Kuwadzana East), Tabitha Khumalo (MDC proportional representative), Prosper Mutseyami (Dangamvura) and Midlands senator Lillian Timveos, from Parliament, as it flexed its muscles and demonstrated that it is fully in charge of the beleaguered party for now.

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