It never rains but it pours for the opposition party MDC-T, the party has suspended its high ranking party leaders including the party president Morgan Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai and his lieutenants who include Deputy president, Thokozani Khuphe, national organising secretary Nelson Chamisa and party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora among others were suspended on Saturday by senior officials led by Tendai Biti on allegations of breaching the party ‘s constitution and using violence to silence dissenting voices.
MDC-T infighting escalates
The party’s factionalism has taken different strides, with recent developments being the worst and threatening its collapse. To every one’s amazement and confusion the national assembly that suspended the party leaders was not a legit one, there is another assembly with a different perspective from the one led by Biti.
One really wonders what could have happened if a party with such confusion was voted into power in the previous elections. As Mudzuri said in his facebook page:
“How does one speak of solving the country’s problems when one house is burning? We need to resolve the conflict in our house first and the address the country’s problems. As Zimbabweans, we must indulge in honest, robust and constructive debate about the goings –on in the MDC with a view to assisting the feuding parties who have lost each other to find common ground.”
The party has been rocked with infighting for the past years, with recent factionalism in the party threatening the party’s collapse. What the national assembly decided on Saturday might be democratic in its way, but the party ‘s failure to resolve their issues in a mature manner has exposed how dis-organised the party is. As we await for what the legit national assembly has to say about the actions of the other “National Council” critics have argued that there is no way the party will be able to unite and be stronger as it was in 2008.
In the past years , MDC-T has seen strong leaders such as Welshman Ncube leaving the party and forming other parties. If Biti, Elton Mangoma and Sipepa Nkomo leave the party, Tsvangirai must be guaranteed of facing a tough competition in the 2018 elections. The chances are high that Biti will join forces with Welshman Ncube and Tsvangirai ‘s votes will further be split.
African politics with lorraine 