Factionalism rocks MDC-T

BULAWAYO - Factionalism has rocked the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) amid indications that the party's provincial chairperson, Gorden Moyo, could be at the centre of the divisions.
The rifts have their roots in the disputed ascendency of Moyo to the post of chairperson last year, ahead of his rival Matson Hlalo, the Makokoba constituency senator.
Party insiders claimed the internecine fighting in the province became apparent at a memorial service held two weeks ago for the late MDC-T national executive member, Gertrude Mthombeni.
The service was allegedly boycotted by Moyo's faction whose members, according to MDC-T insiders, include Thokozani Khupe, the Deputy Prime Minister; Albert Mhlanga, the provincial organising secretary; Dorcas Sibanda, the legislator for Bulawayo-Central and Sandla Khumalo, the legislator for Mpopoma-Pelandaba who were all absent from the memorial held at a city hotel.
Only MDC-T members aligned to Hlalo were said to have attended the memorial service.
Those perceived to be aligned to Hlalo's faction include Tabitha Khumalo, the MDC-T deputy national spokesperson; Thamsa-nqa Mahlangu, the legislator for Nkulumane; Norman Mabhena, a national executive member, and Agnes Sibanda, the senator for Luveve.
MDC-T insiders also alleged this was not the first time that the Moyo faction has boycotted party events, as "they also deliberately did not attend Gladys Gombami's memorial service at the Large City Hall, several weeks ago".
Gombami was the senator for Bulawayo's Mabutweni constituency. She died in December last year.
Further stoking the divisions are attempts being made by the Hlalo faction to name the party's Bulawayo offices in honour of Mthombeni.
Hlalo this week downplayed the party rifts saying the MDC-T's internal struggles were not a "big issue" to worry about while Mhlanga said the failure by some of the party's officials to attend the memorial services was due to poor organisation.
"Those factions you are talking about, if ever they are there, are not bad as both Moyo and Hlalo support Prime Minister Tsvangirai. It's only a few individuals that have their own differences and I don't see that affecting the MDC-T in the upcoming elections," said Mhlanga.
"The problem is that they (Hlalo faction) have never put it on the agenda that they want our offices to be named after Mthombeni; they just discuss it alone. 
"However, we will never accept that because there are many people who have died such as Learnmore Jongwe and if we are to keep naming buildings after members, it means others who die will have no buildings to be named after as there are more people than those buildings," said Mhlanga. 
Khumalo, however, said Mthombeni had made numerous sacrifices to the MDC-T and deserved the honour. 
Observers cautioned that the MDC-T must get its house in order to prevent being upstaged by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party at the upcoming elections strongly mooted to take place this year.