MDC-T's Gorden Moyo to announce 'shocking news'

The position of the MDC-T provincial chairperson for Bulawayo, Gorden Moyo - who went on a sabbatical at the height of infighting in his party comes under the spotlight this weekend when his executive meets following the expiry of his leave.

There have been rumours that Moyo - who is also the Makokoba Member of Parliament - was likely to lead a  third breakaway faction following calls for leadership renewal which saw the party split, with one group led by its president Morgan Tsvangirai and another guided by former MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti, but Moyo has kept his cards close to his chest.

Moyo, who is touted as a key member to the opposition because of his links to the donor community, has not been forthcoming on his allegiance to the beleaguered Tsvangirai, nor has he been associated with the Leadership Renewal Team led by Biti, four days after the end of his sabbatical.

Insiders told The Zimbabwe Mail on Tuesday that Moyo will soon announce "shocking news" on what he has been planning after observing the MDC-T drama unfolding from the backstage as he would not want to make a "foolish" decision.

"Moyo is a very learned man. He just doesn't open his mouth to say foolish stuff, he researches and consults but very soon he will be releasing some shocking news" said one of the insiders.

However, Moyo could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone went unanswered.

Moyo, who is said to be chiding Tsvangirai for failing the party, is said to have held a meeting at his Famona home, Bulawayo, on June 11 where he invited several key members including MDC-T Guardians' Council member Samuel Sipepa Nkomo to come and join his faction because it has "donor support".

Nkomo has denied being part of the meeting.

The party deputy president Thokozani Khuphe last month thwarted a bid to oust Moyo from the party after he was suspected to be linked to the Leadership Renewal Team but there has been no evidence linking him to the Mandel meeting that suspended Tsvangirai.

Suspicions that Moyo might be linked to the Leadership Renewal Team arose from the stunt that he pulled by taking a sabbatical from the party on the eve of Tsvangirai's rally at Stanley Square in Makokoba in April.

In an interview on Tuesday, Dorcas Sibanda, acting provincial chairperson, said Moyo's position was unclear   as he had not said anything regarding the end of his sabbatical despite the passing of the June 1 date of his return.

"We are still waiting for him to come back. He had written informing us of his sabbatical hence we are expecting an official notice of his come-back," Sibanda said.

"We will be having a party meeting at the weekend where we will be expecting him to attend and that is when we will see if he really is with us," said Sibanda, suspected to be in the Tsvangirai faction.

The chairperson of the MDC-T's Guardians' Council, Sekai Holland, last month confirmed that MDC-T had further defragmented by making sensational claims that there were actually five factions other than the Tsvangirai and Biti-led factions.

"We want the party to be united. Unfortunately, the council was dragged into the party's factional fights.

"We later actually realised that there are five factions in the party and our position as the Guardians' Council is that the party should re-unite to form a strong opposition," she was quoted saying.