Timveos, the opposition party’s former deputy treasurer-general
and Midlands senator, officially joined Zanu PF together with MDC-T secretary
for local government, Blessing Chebundo on Wednesday, where they were paraded
before President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
More party officials are reportedly warming up to join Zanu
PF, which has since the 2018 general elections, been accused of spending
millions of dollars as well as abusing State institutions to destroy the
opposition party, allegation it denies.
But tensions are reportedly high in Chamisa’s backyard,
with party executives said to be unhappy with Hwende’s closeness to Chamisa.
Hwende, a top party official claimed, was influencing
Chamisa to fight his lieutenants such as vice-president Tendai Biti and deputy
chairperson Job Sikhala, among others.
This, according to the official, is giving an impression
that Hwende is calling the shots in the cockpit and “most members are ready to
leave.”
Hwende, after Timveos defected to Zanu PF, took to Twitter
and claimed that the former senator had sealed a deal with First Lady Auxillia
Mnangagwa to enable her retain her senatorial vehicle if she joined the ruling
party.
This triggered an outburst from Timveos, who described
Hwende as an “evil person” who was behind corruption in the MDC Alliance and
the purging of party executives.
She said Hwende was the reason why she left the party to
join Zanu PF because of his vitriol against other senior party members,
especially those in the standing committee.
“Hwende may fool people who do not know him, but not me and
all members in the standing committee and Members of Parliament who know that
he is the one who destroyed that party single-handedly. He’s the reason why I
made the decision I made,” she said.
She said she was a businesswoman owning several shops in
Zvishavane and other properties all over the country and could not dump the
party because of a parliamentary car “since I started driving different sort of
cars for decades.”
She alleged abuse of funds handed to the party under the
Political Parties Finance Act before the money was rerouted to then MDC-T
leader Thokozani Khupe last year.
Timveos alleged Hwende treated other members like David
Coltart with disdain and alleged that Chamisa had remained mum about the abuse
of party members. “Hwende knows that he
fights everyone in the party,” Timveos said.
“I was one of the major financiers of the party for many
years and the Midlands province stood for many years because of my financial
donations to the party. We have been treated like schoolchildren, insulted by
Hwende and Nelson Chamisa never reprimanded him. How many standing committee
members cried in meetings (because of) abuse at every turn?”
She added that Hwende always ganged up with the organising
secretary Amos Chibaya, deputy spokesperson Clifford Hlatywayo, youth leader
Obey Sithole, Murisi Zwizwai and former legislator Happymore Chidziva to
undress other members of the standing committee.
Timveos said Hwende once lobbied them to fight
co-vice-president Welshman Ncube, whom he accused of having secretly opened a
bank account in South Africa together with Coltart to revive his MDC-N offshoot
which he formed in 2005 after parting ways with MDC founding leader, the late
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Hwende also allegedly lobbied for Sikhala to be expelled
from the party, she added. Hwende did not respond to questions sent to him, but
Hlatywayo denied that the party’s secretary-general was calling the shots in
the MDC Alliance.
He denied abuse of party members during standing committee
meetings, accusing those making the allegations of being sponsored by Zanu PF.
“Those are lies. We knew long ago that some leaders like
(MDC-T leader Douglas) Mwonzora behaved like owners of the movement. Were they
questioned? The MDC Alliance has space for difference of opinion and you are
not killed,” Hlatywayo said.
He denied that the MDC Alliance was in turmoil, claiming it
was a tried and tested party that could not be destroyed easily.
“MDC Alliance is a tried and tested people’s party. Since
the defeat of Mnangagwa by president Chamisa in 2018, Zanu PF has not slept
trying to destroy the party both from within and outside. Zanu PF imagines that
there is turmoil in the MDC Alliance,” he said. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment