IN A move that underscores both the lack of leadership and
senselessness of the turmoil that is consuming the MDC, Nelson Chamisa has
barred his once close associates from speaking to the media, the Daily News can
reveal.
This comes as more
cracks are emerging within the MDC Alliance, a pact of several political
parties that is involved in a fierce battle for the control of the country’s
main opposition, the MDC — which is currently under the interim leadership of Thokozani
Khupe.
It also comes after
the MDC Alliance was rocked by the surprise departure this week of veteran
politicians and former Cabinet ministers Tapiwa Mashakada and Paurina Mpariwa
from the pact, as unbridgeable rifts between Chamisa and some of his top allies
become more publicly manifest.
At the same time, the MDC Alliance is also facing serious
financial problems, to the extent that it has now gone public begging for
urgent assistance from well-wishers.
Now, after weeks of
mindless brawling among MDC bigwigs, Chamisa has moved to muzzle some of his
most loyal associates — including Alliance vice presidents Tendai Biti and
Lynette Karenyi-Kore, as well as firebrand deputy national chairperson Job
“Wiwa” Sikhala — barring them from speaking to the media.
Curiously,
well-placed MDC sources told the Daily News yesterday, the surprise gag order
came after Biti and Sikhala had featured prominently in the independent press
last weekend, including the Daily News — and at a time that Chamisa is looking
increasingly out of his depth in terms of giving direction to the embattled
Alliance.
“Chamisa has gone completely bonkers. How else can anyone
explain the sudden gagging of senior members such as Biti and Sikhala?
“At a time that he needs more voices fighting in his corner
to expose Zanu PF’s games and machinations in the current chaos, he is doing
the opposite, muzzling his allies.
“His friends say he is threatened by these (Alliance)
heavyweights and also feels that the media are raising the profiles of his
senior officials at his own expense.
“This is ridiculous … It’s rank madness akin to cutting
one’s nose to spite one’s face,” a senior MDC Alliance official said.
A close Chamisa
ally, Chalton Hwende, confirmed the development saying the gag order was
consistent with the MDC Alliance’s constitution.
“Regarding communication, the correct position is that we
are coming up with a social media protocol for the party because we cannot
regulate individuals’ social media accounts.
“We can only manage the party’s and the constitution is
clear that only the president, the secretary-general, his deputy and the
spokesperson speak on behalf of the party,” Hwende told the Daily News.
Earlier, Mashakada
confirmed that he had indeed left the Alliance’s national standing committee
due to worsening divisions — rather than the talk doing the rounds that he had
been dismissed.
“I am not aware of the so-called dismissal. In any case how
can one be fired from a voluntary organisation?
“All I know is that after I criticised the decision to
disengage from Parliament as stupid and unstrategic, the next day 25 MPs defied
the directive and attended Parliament.
“In an act of vindictiveness, Chalton Hwende removed me
from the national standing committee and national executive internal WhatsApp
groups,” Mashakada told the Daily News.
“I am reliably informed that at Tuesday’s national standing
committee meeting, Hwende had organised a group of thugs with instructions to
assault me should I have gone anywhere near the meeting.
“This readable pattern of violent behaviour is unacceptable
in a democratic movement,” he added.
Mashakada went on to
savage Chamisa and Hwende for allegedly being “at the forefront of trashing
democracy” in the MDC. They cannot withstand a robust internal democratic
discourse. More so, they can’t manage internal contradictions.
“The MDC Alliance has mishandled and mismanaged the Supreme
Court judgment and painted itself as a political outfit which does not respect
the institutions of the country, in particular, the judiciary and the security
forces.
“They have shown a condescending view. I am a founder
member of the MDC and I cannot accept being muzzled,” Mashakada further told
the Daily News.
“The MDC Alliance must walk the talk, respect and tolerate
diversity and divergence of views.
“In brief, I have elected to disassociate myself from this
dictatorship and join forces with my comrades who are committed to protecting,
defending, promoting and advancing the legacy of president Tsvangirai,” he
said, signalling the end of his ties with the MDC Alliance and his return to
the MDC.
On her part, Mpariwa
responded to the Daily News by sending through a letter that she had written to
the MDC Alliance, bidding them farewell.
“I have noticed my removal from the national standing
group. Anyway, it’s a great pleasure taking a back seat after such a long time
in the trenches.
“It’s a very difficult period, but it shall come to pass.
Best regards to all comrades and a farewell to my women colleagues. It’s sad,
but it’s part of life in politics,” she wrote in the letter.
However, Hwende said
Tuesday’s meeting did not discuss the Mashakada and Mpariwa issue.
“The standing committee did not discuss any issues
regarding the two.
“Mpariwa tendered an apology because she was attending to
some other business and the same applies with Mashakada.
“The standing committee has no power to discipline anyone,
so no charges are being considered against them because there is no crime that
they committed,” Hwende told the Daily News.
All this comes as Khupe and Chamisa have been involved in a
fierce tussle for the control of the country’s largest opposition party — a war
that began ever since it’s much-loved founding father, Morgan Tsvangirai, died
from colon cancer in February 2018.
The fights took a turn for the worse after the Supreme
Court upheld an earlier High Court ruling in March, which had nullified
Chamisa’s hotly-disputed ascendancy to the helm of the MDC following
Tsvangirai’s death.
The ugly factional
wars went a notch up last week after Khupe seized the party’s iconic national
headquarters, the Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House — allegedly with the
assistance of security forces. Daily News
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