MDC Alliance president Mr Nelson Chamisa has been sucked
into a tribal storm at the party's Bulawayo structures who accuse the
opposition leader of presiding over a provincial congress marred with
irregularities and ethnic bias.
In the "chaotic" Bulawayo congress, party vice
president Professor Welshman Ncube was snubbed by the province which did not
nominate him to retain the post at the national congress slated for next month.
Instead, the structures nominated Mr Tendai Biti, Mr Morgen
Komichi and Ms Lillian Timveous for the vice presidency and nominated Prof
Ncube for the secretary general's position.
However, according to insiders Prof Ncube has been
nominated by seven out of the party's 12 provinces, while Mr Biti has eight, Ms
Timveous has six, and Mr Komichi has 11 nominations.
Other nominations for Mr Chamisa's deputy include Ms
Paurina Mupariwa, Engineer Elias Mudzuri, Tracey Mutinhiri and Mr Karenyi Kore
who all have one nomination each.
Prof Ncube was snubbed together with former members of his
MDC party that he led before he joined Mr Chamisa as none of them were
nominated for any position.
The disgruntled party members say Mr Chamisa showed bias as
he presided over the elections of the youth, women's and main provincial wings.
"For example, in the youth structures where more than
800 youths were supposed to participate, only about 150 were allowed to vote.
No one can win when the electoral college is 150 as that number can only
account for two party districts. By presiding over such a sham process, Chamisa
oversaw the breach of the party constitution in favour of what has been viewed
as a tribal agenda," said an insider.
Bouncers belonging to Mr Chamisa are said to have been
hired to block people from voting and many feel results were predetermined.
In the election for
the main wing, party sources said party districts like Mpopoma and Emakhandeni
were not allowed to vote despite the fact that their structures were in order.
"There was a
systematic frustration of people from voting. The election was dragged deep
into the night and some members were forced to go back home without voting. If
you try and tally the numbers in the polls you discover that there was a lot of
cooking of figures," said the source.
"Chamisa's strategy was a dual one, first he wanted to
include his allies and on the other hand targeted perceived enemies who opposed
him at the 2014 congress where he was beaten by (party secretary general
Douglas) Mwonzora. Look at what happened in other provinces with the likes of
Murayi and Chimhini, they were all targeted by Chamisa and pushed out."
"Even if you look at the Prof Ncube issue, it is clear
that the Bulawayo nomination was meant to embarrass him. Never has it happened
in the history of the party that a vice president is snubbed by the province he
hails from only to be nominated by other provinces."
MDC Alliance national spokesperson Mr Jacob Mafume
dismissed any alleged irregularities and tribal divisions.
"The Bulawayo congress and all our other provincial
congresses have gone on smoothly, as of today we have not received any formal
complaints in terms of our constitution over any irregularity. Winning
candidates and the losing candidates have all pledged to work together. Should
we receive any complaints or any specific irregularities it would be dealt with
in terms of our constitution and it would be dealt with before the main
congress," said Mr Mafume.
Last Tuesday, MDC-Alliance secretary-general, Mr Douglas
Mwonzora who had expressed intention to challenge Mr Chamisa's presidency at
the congress said he withdrew from the race because the playing field was not
even.
Mr Mwonzora launched a scathing attack on his party and the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions for failing to address concerns that he
raised. Chronicle
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