OPPOSITION MDC-T led by Dr Thokozani Khupe has hit back at
its detractors who are alleging that the formation was a Zanu-PF project noting
that those who were peddling such falsehoods were attempting to get an unfair
political advantage.
Supreme Court judge Justice Bharat Patel, sitting with
Justices Paddington Garwe and Antonia Guvava, in April ruled that Mr Nelson
Chamisa was not the legitimate MDC leader in terms of the party’s constitution
and subsequently ordered the convening of an extra-ordinary congress within
three months to elect a new president.
The decision by the court settled the acrimonious MDC
leadership wrangle pitting Mr Chamisa and Dr Khupe. Ever since the ruling
members of the Mr Chamisa-led MDC-Alliance have labelled Dr Khuphe a sell-out,
even claiming that she was a pawn of the ruling Zanu-PF. Last week, MDC
Alliance vice-president, Professor Welshman Ncube was quoted in the private
media saying Dr Khupe was shameless.
Responding to questions from the Sunday News, MDC-T, deputy
secretary for information and publicity, who is also Dr Khupe’s spokesperson,
Mr Khalipani Phugeni said Dr Khupe’s detractors were just angered by the fact
that she refused to be submissive and allow for the infringement of her rights.
He said most of the accusations that were being levelled against the party’s
leaders were not provable by either Mr Chamisa or his cronies.
“It is a sad thing that people would treat others in a
manner they would not want to be treated themselves, because we all know that
natural justice demands that he that accuses must prove. Dr Khupe has
previously been arrested over seven times, she has received nothing, publicly
or privately from Zanu-PF, which the same cannot be said about her detractors.
“Simply because she stood firm and pushed back against
infringement of her rights and stood resolute defending not only herself but
her gender because she was being marginalised on the basis of her gender and
ethnicity, so she stood firm, which the ruling elite and the private media did
not like. They did not like this woman who was not submissive,” said Mr
Phugeni.
He took a swipe at Prof Ncube and the MDC-Alliance
co-vice-president Mr Tendai Biti for spreading baseless allegations noting that
the two had themselves previously been labelled Zanu-PF projects by the same
individuals they were now siding with.
“Dr Khupe’s working with Zanu-PF is only restricted or
defined by the fact that it is the governing party of the day, so you can’t
boycott Government because it is the Government that provides social services,
build roads, gives us birth certificates to mention but a few, so if that is
being Zanu-PF then all of us are Zanu-PF, as citizens of this country.
“Strange enough those that are now clamouring louder on
this Zanu-PF tag, in particular Prof Ncube, has also once been called a Zanu-PF
project by the same people he has joined ranks with. Tendai Biti was also once
in the same boat, which was even worse for him as our late president Dr Morgan
Tsvangirai is on record accusing him of having stolen large sums of money, so
you are talking of a thief here, according to Dr Tsvangirai,” said Mr Phugeni.
He further clarified on the issue of recalling MPs and
councillors saying they were still establishing those of their representatives
that were pushing the party’s agenda and those that were not for them to come
up with a detailed list of those that were to be recalled.
“Our agenda is not to recall, our agenda is to deliver, so
you will appreciate that our representatives which we deploy in Government are
being deployed to help us achieve this agenda. The issue does not have to do
with whether one supports Dr Khupe or not but more of the values, aims and
objectives of the MDC-T. This is something that we are patiently taking our
time on because the violent takeover of the party did not help so the process
of establishing those MPs and councillors that are carrying out their mandate
with exception is taking time but very soon our caucus will be in shape,” he
said.
On the issue of reclaiming of the MDC-T’s offices and
assets around the country, Mr Phugeni said while the issue was still before the
courts it was known to all that when Mr Chamisa usurped power he took both the
party and its assets hence it had to follow that Dr Khupe’s MDC-T should also
repossess their offices around the country.
He further revealed that at the moment they were not
worried about public perception but were focusing on doing what was right in
terms of the party constitution.
“We have not followed the public discourse mainly because
we are doing what is right, it is not a popularity contest, it’s all about
doing right by the party, Remember, Dr Khupe as the president of the party, she
has what is called a fiducial duty towards the MDC-T and she must carry it out
without fear or prejudice. The best way to carry out this mandate is not to
worry much about public perception, I’m not saying public perception is not
important but it is not a popularity contest, we are just making sure that the
mandate of our people is carried out to the best of our ability,” said Mr
Phugeni. Sunday News
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