News / Local
MDC-T councillors openly defy Thokozani Khupe's directive
29 Aug 2013 at 05:02hrs | Views
BULAWAYO councillors on Tuesday openly defied the party's provincial executive on its choice for the city's deputy mayor, setting the stage for an explosive meeting scheduled for today where party leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to address the province on the issue.
At a caucus meeting reportedly held in Luveve, which is said to have been attended by more than 20 of the 29 winning candidates in the Bulawayo local authority elections, the candidates openly rejected Mr Gift Banda for the deputy mayor's post.
MDC-T provincial bigwigs, the organising secretary Mr Albert Mhlanga and the secretary Mr Reggie Moyo reportedly attended the meeting.
Officials at the party said the meeting got off to a confrontational start with the winning candidates demanding to know why the party's deputy president, Ms Thokozani Khupe wanted to impose Mr Banda.
"The councillors said Sheila Musonda who won in Ward 8 was going around telling them that Ms Khupe had said they should vote for Gift for the post of Deputy Mayor. They said Ms Khupe was demeaning herself and her position in the party by meddling in issues that were supposed to be attended to by juniors," said the official.
The winning candidates reportedly said they did not want Mr Banda in the position because he was new in the party and was using his wealth "to buy" the position.
Another official said Mr Mhlanga "diplomatically" cooled tempers by saying the councillors had misunderstood Ms Khupe.
"Ms Khupe said Mr Banda had approached her seeking assistance to get the position and she told him to approach the councillors to get their support," said the official.
A comment could not be obtained from Mr Mhlanga and the provincial chairperson Mr Gorden Moyo as they could not be reached on their mobile phones.
However, the party's spokesperson for Bulawayo province, Mr Mandla Sibanda said the meeting was illegal.
"We have well furnished offices with a big boardroom for meetings. As a party we are not aware of such a meeting. It is a Luveve meeting, not an MDC-T meeting," said Mr Sibanda.
He said Mr Tsvangirai was not coming to Bulawayo to talk about mayoral positions.
"He is coming to meet the party's winning candidates and will later meet Bulawayo residents at the Large City Hall. He will not be addressing anyone, but will be exchanging ideas with party members. It is too early for us to be talking about mayoral posts," said Mr Sibanda.
MDC-T has reportedly earmarked National University of Science and Technology (Nust) lecturer Dr Mandla Nyathi for the post of Bulawayo Mayor.
The party won in all 29 council wards in the city.
At a caucus meeting reportedly held in Luveve, which is said to have been attended by more than 20 of the 29 winning candidates in the Bulawayo local authority elections, the candidates openly rejected Mr Gift Banda for the deputy mayor's post.
MDC-T provincial bigwigs, the organising secretary Mr Albert Mhlanga and the secretary Mr Reggie Moyo reportedly attended the meeting.
Officials at the party said the meeting got off to a confrontational start with the winning candidates demanding to know why the party's deputy president, Ms Thokozani Khupe wanted to impose Mr Banda.
"The councillors said Sheila Musonda who won in Ward 8 was going around telling them that Ms Khupe had said they should vote for Gift for the post of Deputy Mayor. They said Ms Khupe was demeaning herself and her position in the party by meddling in issues that were supposed to be attended to by juniors," said the official.
The winning candidates reportedly said they did not want Mr Banda in the position because he was new in the party and was using his wealth "to buy" the position.
Another official said Mr Mhlanga "diplomatically" cooled tempers by saying the councillors had misunderstood Ms Khupe.
A comment could not be obtained from Mr Mhlanga and the provincial chairperson Mr Gorden Moyo as they could not be reached on their mobile phones.
However, the party's spokesperson for Bulawayo province, Mr Mandla Sibanda said the meeting was illegal.
"We have well furnished offices with a big boardroom for meetings. As a party we are not aware of such a meeting. It is a Luveve meeting, not an MDC-T meeting," said Mr Sibanda.
He said Mr Tsvangirai was not coming to Bulawayo to talk about mayoral positions.
"He is coming to meet the party's winning candidates and will later meet Bulawayo residents at the Large City Hall. He will not be addressing anyone, but will be exchanging ideas with party members. It is too early for us to be talking about mayoral posts," said Mr Sibanda.
MDC-T has reportedly earmarked National University of Science and Technology (Nust) lecturer Dr Mandla Nyathi for the post of Bulawayo Mayor.
The party won in all 29 council wards in the city.
Source - chronicle
