JOICE Mujuru’s National People’s Party (NPP) and its allies
will tomorrow launch a separate alliance ahead of the 2018 general elections to
counter the MDC Alliance led by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Sources within the party said the NPP would team up with
Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa, part of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by
Lucia Matibenga, Zimbabweans United for Democracy (Zunde) and Democratic
Assembly for Restoration and Empowerment (Dare) to form the coalition.
“Deals have been signed and there is a proposal to launch
the alliance on Friday (tomorrow) in Harare where Dabengwa is expected to land
the post of chairperson. Mujuru will be the presidential candidate, while
Matibenga’s PDP will also get an influential position on the table,” the source
said.
NPP vice-president Samuel Sipepa Nkomo confirmed that the
party was on the verge of launching an alliance that is ready to wrest power
from Zanu PF and President Robert Mugabe.
“We were supposed to launch the alliance this Friday, yes,
but I have been trying to reach our secretary-general (Gift Nyandoro) to get
clarity because there are some outstanding issues. The deal has not been
finalised, so get hold of Nyandoro for the finer details,” Nkomo said.
Nkomo said he will be travelling to Harare today ahead of
the launch which will leave Tsvangirai and Mujuru’s negotiations on a potential
coalition in limbo.
Nyandoro was unreachable, but party spokesperson Jeffreyson
Chitando said, while he did not have details of the launch, the NPP would not
be imposing its name on the alliance.
“The main reason we refused to get into bed with MDC
Alliance is because we said we want a neutral name. We are, therefore, not
going to be forming an alliance that bears our name. Those who have proposed
that name are just mere dreamers,” Chitando said.
Contacted for comment, Matibenga said she was in a meeting
and promised to call back, but had not done so by the time of going to print.
Dabengwa’s mobile phone went unanswered. Newsday
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