Chamisa in trouble

A FACTION of the MDC led by Mr Douglas Mwonzora says it will take legal action against Mr Nelson Chamisa if he clings on to the name MDC-Alliance. It is understood that Mr Mwonzora, who is the country's main opposition leader by parliamentary representation, is also set to recall more of Mr Chamisa's allies who have not attended party meetings.

This comes as hordes of defiant MDC legislators, who refused to recognise Mr Mwonzora as the opposition leader, were recalled early this year.

It also comes as Mr Chamisa lost the party's headquarters and other properties. Last week, the MDC faction ordered Mr Chamisa to stop using the name Alliance or risk being dragged to court. Mr Mwonzora's spokesperson Mr Lloyd Damba said Mr Chamisa ceased to be MDC-A leader as of March 1, 2020, when the Supreme Court made a ruling that the MDC-T should hold its extraordinary congress to replace the late founding father Mr Morgan Tsvangirai.

The MDC-Alliance is a group of seven political parties that came together on the 5th of August 2017 after signing an electoral pact not to contest each other, but to field one council candidate and one parliamentary candidate and one Presidential candidate so as not to split the vote and remove Zanu-PF from power.

The MDC-T, Mr Damba, said was the biggest partner in the Alliance and its president was the presidential candidate as well as the chairperson of the Coalition Principals Forum.

"And soon after Dr Tsvangirai passed on Chamisa went on to illegally grab power on the 15th of February 2018 at the funeral and one observant party member went to court to challenge the unconstitutional manner in which Chamisa grabbed power.  

"Chamisa through his lawyer Thabani Mpofu approached the Supreme Court to have him declared the legitimate president of the MDC-T and that was in May of 2019. Mind you his deputy president at that time was Engineer Elias Mudzuri and his national chairperson was Senator Morgen Komichi and his secretary-general was Senator Dougals Mwonzora.

"Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube and Jacob Ngarivhume and other principals were still presidents in their respect parties and the MDC Alliance pact was still intact and still is, instead of him to wait for the Supreme Court judgment he quickly called for an ordinary congress instead of an extraordinary congress.

"At the ordinary congress he went on to readmit Mr Biti and Ncube into the mainstream MDC which is the MDC-T. Soon after that congress he lost his appeal at the Supreme Court, meaning that he had to revert to his position as secretary for research and policy coordination since Eng Mudzuri also reverted to his position and Dr Khupe also reverted to her position as VP as was the case before the 1st of June 2016. "By this, Chamisa ceased being the presidential candidate and chairperson of the Coalition Principal Forum since he was no longer the president of the mainstream MDC-T, which chairs the MDC-Alliance in terms of the Agreement," he said.

He further said the MDC-A Gweru congress was also nullified by the same Supreme Court, which he approached meaning that the re-admittance of Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube into the same party is also a nullity.

"So we are shocked by certain sections of the society that donate the name of the MDC-Alliance to Nelson Chamisa in complete contempt of the Supreme Court". "Now that we are taking steps to correct that and we will not stop pursuing this case to its logical conclusion until we recover all," he said.