MDC Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa has riled disgruntled
members from Bulawayo who lost in the chaotic provincial congress in April
ahead of the party’s congress in May by reneging on a resolution to hold fresh
polls.
According to insiders, before the holding of the congress
in Gweru, the party had resolved that Bulawayo would hold a fresh provincial
congress to select members of the executive.
This followed protests that Mr Chamisa had in April
presided over a chaotic provincial congress whose outcome, members allege, was
manipulated by the MDC Alliance leader to push a tribal agenda.
The disgruntled members wrote to the party accusing Mr
Chamisa of interfering with processes.
The party’s national executive council then resolved that
after the congress, the province would be dissolved to make way for fresh
elections.
However, party sources said the party has gone quiet on the
matter in an indication that Mr Chamisa made the promise just to stop
infighting at the congress.
“It doesn’t seem like the matter will be attended anymore,
it has been swept under the carpet,” said one of the disgruntled members.
“We expected that soon after the congress, we would be told
when the provincial congress would be reconvened but there is no action.”
Another disgruntled member said it was always going to be
difficult to reconvene the provincial congress.
“You have to understand that the faction that emerged
victorious in Bulawayo did so with the help of Chamisa himself so it means that
it is his people and he will not allow them to lose their positions,” said the
member.
It was also revealed that the disgruntled members have
since approached Mr Chamisa’s deputy Professor Welshman Ncube to find out the
status of their matter.
“What the party has done perhaps to try and window dress
the issue is that some of the losing candidates at the provincial congress like
Jasmine Toffa and Mlandu Ncube have been co-opted into the national executive
but that doesn’t solve the crisis we have in Bulawayo.
“The matter still stands because that provincial congress
was marred with a lot of irregularities and Chamisa himself was an actor in
manipulating the processes,” said a member.
Efforts to get a comment from MDC Alliance spokesperson Mr
Daniel Molokele were fruitless.
Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Mr Swithern Chirowodza
said they were yet to receive communication on the matter.
“That issue has not been brought to us, what I know is
there is harmony in the party,” he said.
A pro-Chamisa camp member said the resolution by the
national executive was not final.
“What they fail to appreciate is that the national
executive council can only recommend and those recommendations are not final.
It is up to the national council to dissolve the province and no such
resolution has been made so far,” she said. Chronicle
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