The ManicaPost
Elijah Chihota Correspondent
The MDC ship is inevitably sinking with those on board in blissful ignorance.
When the party was formed in 1999, it told the people that it had all the important cards on its chest to turn around the country’s economy at the drop of a hat.
Succession wrangles
After the death of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, the party was embroiled in ugly succession wrangles. The succession wars pitted the party’s then co-vice presidents, Mr Nelson Chamisa, Dr Thokozani Khupe and Engineer Elias Mudzuri.
All dirty tactics, which almost claimed the life of Dr Khupe and then secretary-general Mr Douglas Mwonzora, were used as the youths aligned to Mr Chamisa vowed to burn down a hut in which the two were seeking refuge.
G40 and the 2018 elections
Last month, Mr Edmund Kudzayi revealed that Professor Jonathan Moyo, alongside other G40 kingpins such as Mr Patrick Zhuwao, made financial and material contributions to the MDC’s 2018 election campaign. This demonstrates that the party has been hijacked.
Prof Moyo did not deny the role he played in the MDC’s 2018 elections campaign. He even volunteered the information that Mr Zhuwao contributed US$6 000 towards the MDC’s election campaign kit.
Therefore, the G40 members, not comfortable in their political doldrums, have chosen the MDC as a vehicle to re-launch their political careers. They will eventually take over the party.
2019 congress
The MDC’s May 2019 elective congress in Gweru was a defining moment for the party as it showed that there were serious fissures. The old guard who were at the inception of the party, the likes of Mr Mwonzora and Eng Mudzuri, were being sidelined.
The former was almost fired at that congress. It was also a defining moment as it brought to the fore Mr Chamisa’s true dictatorial colours and paranoid obsession with power.
And Mr Chamisa was surprised when MDC co-vice president, Mr Tendai Biti, landed one of the party’s vice-president’s posts.
Mr Chamisa had brought in Mr Biti, Prof Welshman Ncube and Mr Job Sikhala to create the impression that he was magnanimous and prioritising unity, yet he was and remains uncomfortable with the breakaway leaders’ presence as they all harbour ambitions to succeed, if not overthrow him. This is especially true in the case of Mr Biti.
Although Mr Mwonzora is now in a very peripheral and inconsequential position, Mr Chamisa remains very wary of him given that the latter commands some form of support among the MDC’s few grassroots members, hence his recent censure for speaking to the media.
Although the congress secured Mr Chamisa the party’s top post, he remains very paranoid. This has seen him suspending the Victoria Falls mayor and some provincial executives, including the Masvingo opposition party official.
The opposition party leader is seeking to consolidate his power against the Biti faction at the expense of the party’s unity.
This has created a fragmented MDC.
Missing $2 million
While the MDC makes the most noise when it comes to corruption issues, the party has very big and scary skeletons in its cupboard.
Part of the funds that the MDC received last year under the Political Parties (Finance) Act, amounting to $2 million, vanished from party coffers. Yes, it just vanished into thin air, under the party which describes itself as “a party of excellence”,
All fingers are now pointing at Mr Chamisa and his secretary-general, Mr Charlton Hwende, as being beneficiaries of the scam.
Party members are now questioning why Mr Chamisa helped himself to the funds. Under the party’s constitution, his office is only entitled to a 20 percent allocation of the funds.
Media gag on Mwonzora
In a bid to put the final nail in Mr Mwonzora’s political career, Mr Hwende issued a final warning to Mr Mwonzora and barred him from communicating with the media. This was after he had said the MDC needs to be cautious in its dealings with G40 elements.
The gag on Mr Mwonzora directly violates Section 61 of the national Constitution which gives individuals freedom of expression.
It is interesting to note that this is coming from a party which claims to be the pinnacle of constitutionalism and a champion of democracy. Such indiscretions and arbitrary decisions are contributing to the party’s shaky status.
Resignations
Mr Chamisa has reportedly been telling those who want to jump ship to go ahead and do so.
The year 2020 has so far witnessed the resignation of two senior MDC members, namely Mrs Tracy Mutinhiri and Ms Grace Kwinjeh. The resignations by such senior party members are ample evidence that all is not well in that party.
Again, Mr Chamisa is being blamed for the resignations.
It is said people in Mr Chamisa’s camp are pushing others out of the party in order to position themselves near him for possible rich pickings off his table.
And last week, MDC’s secretary for presidential affairs, Mr Morgan Komichi, was said to have resigned.
Although Mr Komichi denied this, he highlighted that his internal party enemies were engaging in mudslinging tactics to tarnish his image. This comment confirms that all is not well in the MDC camp.
A blow to the coalition
MDC co-vice president, Prof Ncube, is no longer featuring at MDC functions. This points to a collapsing coalition. If Prof Ncube walks out of the coalition, the MDC will certainly lose the Matabeleland region vote in 2023.
Tribal card
In Zimbabwe, tribalism and regionalism are not brooked. Surprisingly, Mr Chamisa is running with the tribal card, thereby upsetting the party.
Reports are that Mr Chamisa is plotting to oust the party’ s national chairperson, Ms Tabitha Khumalo, from her post as leader of the opposition in Parliament, in order to replace her with MDC’s Manicaland proportional representation MP, Mrs Lynette Karenyi-Kore.
At this rate, the MDC leadership should be singing its own version of “Nearer my God” or “Usacheuke” as their 2023 electoral ship continues to sink.
Indeed, Mr Chamisa secured the leadership of a party whose existence is slipping through his young and inexperienced fingers.
