MDC Alliance president Mr Nelson Chamisa has allegedly
threatened to bar Bulawayo province from the party’s congress next month over
alleged indiscipline, prompting some members to accuse him of dictatorship.
Mr Chamisa who
reportedly sneaked into Bulawayo on Monday for a crisis meeting with members of
the provincial executive vowed that the province will not be represented at the
congress if they don’t put their house in order.
He allegedly told the provincial leaders that approaching
the courts would not yield anything as his decision would be final.
In the meeting, sources said, Mr Chamisa demanded that his
deputy and ally Professor Welshman Ncube, who is facing resistance from the
province, be accorded respect.
Party insiders said the MDC leader launched into a tirade
over the party’s loss to Zanu-PF at the recent Cowdray Park Ward 28 by-election
saying the electoral loss was tantamount to treason.
Mr Chamisa is said to have taken Mr Collet Ndlovu to task
for contesting the poll.
“He said Bulawayo is ill-disciplined and was the most
violent province in the country. He claimed that reports he received from party
officials show that party members in Bulawayo were unprincipled and lacked
truth. He warned that the province risks not participating in the May 24-26
congress if it does not resolve all the culture of violence,” said the party
insider.
“He even declared that the party’s national leaders will
impose leaders for Bulawayo if the province is not careful, emphasising that
taking the party to court would not change what they will have decided. Also I think his sentiments on Prof Ncube
were influenced by the fact that the Prof is backing him for the presidency,”
said the source.
MDC Alliance deputy spokesperson Mr Edwin Ndlovu confirmed
the meeting but downplayed that the MDC Alliance leader threatened to ban
Bulawayo province from the congress.
“Each province has a timeline to hold its provincial
congress. Bulawayo missed its
timeline. We were supposed to hold our
provincial congress today (yesterday) but we still have not completed five ward
elections, meaning we cannot do districts before the wards.
“So the point he was making is that no matter the province,
if it fails to set up its structures it will not be allowed to attend the
party’s congress which will be held in Gweru in May. So we have up to Saturday
to complete setting up our structures and making nominations,” he said.
Mr Ndlovu also refuted claims that Mr Chamisa declared Bulawayo
the party’s most violent province.
Meanwhile, the MDC Alliance has been slammed for
denigrating, stigmatising and discriminating people living with HIV and Aids
during campaigns for positions.
A Bulawayo based non-governmental organisation which
advocates for rights of people with HIV, Bulawayo Association of People Living
with HIV/AIDS (BAPLA) yesterday raised alarm over derogatory language used
against people purported to be living with HIV and Aids in the MDC Alliance.
“The BAPLA condemns in strongest terms the use of HIV
status as stigmatisation and de-campaigning strategy by some aspiring leaders
of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),” said the organisation.
BAPLA said one’s HIV status has no bearing on their
leadership qualities. Mr Ndlovu
professed ignorance on the matter saying the party will investigate the
reports. Chronicle
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