Khupe pledges ‘undying loyalty' to Tsvangirai

MDC-T deputy president, Thokozani Khupe has pledged her "undying loyalty" to party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai and dismissed reports she was plotting his ouster.

Khupe, through her personal assistant, Witness Dube, said she remains "undistracted" from pulling all the stops to ensure Tsvangirai wins the 2018 presidential election.

"The facts are, and remain that, (Thokozani) Khupe dutifully, diligently, and loyally carries out her mandate as given to her by the party's fourth congress of 2016, that of assisting Tsvangirai, in the pursuit of the interest of the party, particularly now towards the 2018 make or break general elections of our generation," Dube said.

"The Women's Electoral Convergence - WEC2018 - which created the platform that has seen MDC-T deputy president, Thokozani Khupe, NPP (National People's Party) leader, Joice Mujuru and other political parties share a platform is a women's initiative at galvanising women's majority electoral vote against Zanu-PF, and (President Robert) Mugabe in the upcoming elections.

"It is a platform that has been created for all parties opposed to the Zanu-PF government, and has ably led women in a spirited representation of the MDC-T party as evidenced by the more than 4 000 MDC-T women, who converged at the Bulawayo Amphitheatre last Friday. In that regard, Khupe remains focused and undistracted from doing everything in her power to make sure that Tsvangirai becomes the next president of Zimbabwe for the betterment of the lives of all of us."

At the weekend, Khupe was alleged to have roped in Mujuru in a bid to topple Tsvangirai.

MDC-T spokesman, Obert Gutu trashed claims that Tsvangirai was under pressure.

"We would like to make it abundantly clear that vice-president, Thokozani Khupe is not working with Joice Mujuru, or with anyone for that matter, to oust president Morgan Tsvangirai as the leader of our mighty party," he said.

"We would like to place it on public record that president Morgan Tsvangirai is a powerful and magnetic political brand.

"His visionary leadership of the MDC has enabled our party to emerge, as arguably the largest and most popular political party in Zimbabwe.

"The MDC is the real deal, the only game in town."

Khupe and Mujuru have featured prominently at WEC rallies, where they are campaigning to rally the female vote ahead of next year's elections.

Gutu said Tsvangirai supported the initiative and Khupe's involvement.

"President Morgan Tsvangirai is actually very supportive of the activities of WEC and he has encouraged female leaders within the MDC to take an active part in mobilising the female vote," Gutu said.