THE ongoing provincial congress in the MDC Alliance led by
Mr Nelson Chamisa has torched another storm after former legislator, Mr Tongai
Matutu, was disqualified ostensibly because he had not yet reached the
five-year threshold before he rejoined the opposition party.
There were chaotic scenes yesterday in Masvingo as party
supporters protested over the disqualification of Mr Matutu who was the front
runner for the provincial chairperson post after the organising department led
by Mr Amos Chibaya barred him on the pretext that he was still to reach five
years since he returned to the party.
Mr Matutu is perceived to be a loyalist of the party
secretary general, Mr Douglas Mwonzora, and there were fears that he would not
nominate Mr Chamisa should he land the post to head the province.
Party supporters alleged an uneven playing field, arguing
that the same template had not been applied on people like Mr Tendai Biti,
Professor Welshman Ncube and a host of others who barely had one year since
they rejoined the party. Mr Matutu was set to contest against Mr James Gumbi
for the post of provincial chairperson.
The decision by the organising department to disqualify Mr
Matutu gave credence to complaints raised by Mr Mwonzora that the Independent
Electoral Commission, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union, was not in charge
of the congress.
“Mr Matutu clearly had the upper hand over his rival Mr
Gumbi,” said a source who attended the meeting.
“Several districts had nominated him and everything was
going on well until the eleventh hour when the organising department intervened
to disqualify him. We suspect that they had realised that he was headed for a
victory.”
Others questioned why the organising department intervened
ahead of the ZCTU which was charged with running the congress.
“That is our worry,” said another source. “Who is really in
charge? Is it the ZCTU or the organising department led by Mr Chibaya who
happens to be equally in the race for election into the national standing
committee.”
When contacted, party spokesperson, Mr Jacob Mafume said Mr
Matutu did not meet the template set out by the party. “He should have applied
for a waiver, but unfortunately he did not exercise that right for one reason
or the other,” he said. “Those who applied for a waiver were granted, but he
failed to do so.”
On Monday, Mr Mwonzora said he withdrew from the ongoing
congress because he had raised a lot of irregularities with the ZCTU and the
party, but they were not addressed.
Mr Mwonzora said he could not continue participating in the
race if the concerns were not resolved, some of which related to violence
against his supporters, arbitrary disqualification of candidates and that the
party’s organising department had usurped the powers and functions of ZCTU
which was charged with running the elections. Herald
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