
Mr Gutu’s decision comes after the party’s deputy president
Dr Thokozani Khupe, secretary-general Mr Douglas Mwonzora and organising
secretary Mr Abednigo Bhebhe were beaten up during the burial of Mr Tsvangirai
in Buhera on Tuesday by acting president Mr Nelson Chamisa’s backers.
Dr Khupe, Mr Chamisa and fellow party deputy president
Engineer Elias Mudzuri were involved in bitter leadership tussles in days
before Mr Tsvangirai died.
Soon after the death of Mr Tsvangirai, Mr Chamisa convened
a national council meeting where he was appointed acting president although his
rivals snubbed the meeting. Writing on his Twitter handle yesterday, Mr Gutu
said he was quitting due to violence in the party.
“BIG ANNOUNCEMENT I’m not going to continue associating
myself with an organisation that advocates for violence and thuggery. I’m a
principled politician and professional. I’m NOT quitting politics. I’m going to
contest in Harare East constituency in the 2018 elections,” he said.
He added: “Violence and thuggery as a tool for political
mobilisation is simply not acceptable in my scheme of things. We are supposed
to be a political party and not a rag tag armed militia.”
Rowdy youths that attacked Dr Khupe and Mr Mwonzora during
Mr Tsvangirai’s burial had to be dispersed by police after they threatened to
burn down a hut the two had sought refuge in. Meanwhile, MDC-T has launched
investigations into the attack.
In a statement, the party’s presidential spokesperson Mr
Luke Tamborinyoka said: “Acting president Chamisa said violence was never the
character of the MDC and any party cadre who engages in violence will face the
full wrath of the party and the law. He said notwithstanding the circumstances,
there was no need for violence against the party leaders.
“Acting president has ordered the security and intelligence
department of the party to investigate the violence and harassment of the
senior members of the party and submit a report to him in the next 24 hours,”
Mr Tamborinyoka said. Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment