Sunday 19 January 2020

KHUPE'S PARTY FACES COLLAPSE


THOKOZANI Khupe’s MDC-T faces collapse following the sudden resignation by party vice-president Obert Gutu, who called it quits as allegations of lack of direction, leadership and strategy dogs the party.

Gutu, the most outspoken member of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), announced that he had resigned yesterday morning citing personal reasons.

“For purely personal and private reasons, I am resigning from the MDC-T with immediate effect,” he said in a notice to media houses.

Highly-placed sources said Gutu’s departure from Khupe’s side had sounded the death knell to the party as he was one of the major funders of operations and the legal brains behind the court case to dislodge Nelson Chamisa from the helm of the MDC.

“The party does not have money and most of its activities were being funded through Gutu’s law firm especially travels for party meetings,” said a source.

“Membership has also been dropping and the party has lost massive support since joining Polad in the face of economic hardships that have hit the people. Khupe hardly speaks in public and has not shown any leadership qualities except following Zanu PF. So with Gutu gone, the party will likely go under.”

Another source said Khupe’s entire leadership was unhappy and also wanted to quit after losing the battle against Chamisa and suffering on the fringes of power, while their boss dines and wines with President Emmerson Mnangagwa at Polad.

“The party has no programme of action. It’s clear that the next election we will be lucky to pull 20 votes. But while the rest of us suffer she is busy feeding fish at Mnangagwa’s farm and having expensive lunches, getting fuel from government and flying places in the name of Polad,” said another source.

Party secretary-general Nickson Nyikadzino said he was shocked by the unexpected resignation of Gutu.

“I don’t even know his reasons for leaving and this comes as a shock to us in the party. I have to talk to him first to understand why he took that decision,” he said.

MDC spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said the resignation of Gutu was a non-event because the party was nothing.

“To us it’s a non-event. When nothing pulls out of nothing, the result is nothing. So it’s a non-event for some of us. We do not follow anything that is happening in the hall of nothing,” said Tamborinyoka.

Gutu refused to comment on his next step amid speculation that he could be joining government in a job that would offer him lucrative perks and benefits.

Last year Mnangagwa invited all presidential candidates to a dialogue and was joined by 20 out of the 22 presidential candidates in talks so far snubbed by the main opposition MDC.

Three other parties that had joined the dialogue have since left while Bryn Mteki and Ambrose Mutinhiri rejoined Zanu PF leaving the credibility of the talks in tatters.

The collapse of Khupe’s party could all but render Polad useless. Standard

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