MDC-Alliance Bulawayo province has been rocked by fresh
chaos over the incorporation of some members into the provincial executive.
The resolution to incorporate members into the province was
made after MDC-A leader Mr Nelson Chamisa buckled to pressure to include
members who lost at the provincial congress in May ahead of the party’s main
congress in Gweru in June.
Mr Chamisa was dragged into the fiasco with accusations
that he had sided with the group comprising of present provincial chairperson
Mr James Sithole at the expense of members coming from his deputy Professor
Welshman Ncube’s MDC party that was dissolved and merged with MDC-Alliance.
Sources yesterday said the Bulawayo Provincial
Administrative Council popularly known as PAC met in Bulawayo on Tuesday where
they fiercely disagreed on the incorporation of more members into the women’s
wing.
The sources said the wing’s chairperson Luba Masotsha
believed to be an ally of Prof Ncube, proposed to incorporate more members
outside the stipulated 10 that was agreed on by the party.
“The party resolved to incorporate 10 members in each of
the wings to accommodate members who lost at the provincial congress. Masotsha
wanted to go further and incorporate 18 more members and put her people in the
top five positions of the province,” said a party source.
The suggestion by the women’s wing chairperson was resisted
by Mr Sithole and deputy Mr Felix Mhaka.
“Mhaka warned Masotsha against doing things that would come
back to haunt her as her actions were unconstitutional while Sithole supported
his deputy arguing that the women’s wing chairperson’s moves were illegal,”
said a source.
It was revealed that the opposition to the incorporation
runs deeper than claims of constitutionalism as there were factional fights
with tribal undertones in the province.
“Remember that Masotsha, by being an ally of Ncube, has
become an opponent of the faction that runs the province led by Sithole and
with direct links to Chamisa himself. So these are factional moves by the Ncube
faction through Masotsha and that is why the Sithole executive was so fierce in
resisting her moves,” said a source.
“The Sithole group feels that Ncube, through his proxies,
wants to dilute their group in the province and what is happening at the
women’s wing could spread to other wings to strengthen his grip on the
province.”
Efforts to get a comment from Masotsha were fruitless.
MDC Alliance Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Mr Swithern
Chirowodza yesterday declined to comment on the matter saying, “internal party
politics is not for public consumption.”
In the “chaotic” Bulawayo congress, Prof Ncube was snubbed
by the province which did not nominate him to retain the post at the congress.
Instead, they 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.
Prof Ncube was retained as Vice President after he got
nominations from other provinces. Chronicle
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