Chamisa to name running mate soon

HARARE - MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa will soon name his choice to serve as vice presidential running mate to better compete with President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

He is said to be looking at the short list of MDC acting spokesperson Thabitha Khumalo, the party's Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Felix Sibanda and academic Bekithemba Mpofu.

He should announce his choice soon to replace Thokozani Khupe, who now leads a splinter faction.

According to a source who attended this week's national executive meeting at the Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House, Chamisa promised the party bigwigs that he will soon make key appointments.

"The president told us that he will soon announce his VP and he promised that he will do this in the coming few days," the source said.

The party spokesperson Khumalo said: "I did not attended the national executive meeting I was attending a funeral."

Efforts to get comment from Chamisa's spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka were fruitless as his mobile phone went unanswered.

Chamisa is also expected to appoint the national chairperson, organising secretary and party spokesperson.

This is to replace, Khupe, who was fired along with organising secretary Abednico Bhebhe and spokesperson Obert Gutu.

The trio had failed to recognise Chamisa's ascendency to the helm of the party.

National chairperson Lovemore Moyo also resigned from the party last week, accusing the leadership of losing direction and deviating from the founding principles of the party.

However, in a statement after the Wednesday meeting, Tamborinyoka said the national executive deliberated on a number of issues.

He said the executive received reports from the provinces on the state and health of the party in terms of its preparedness for the next watershed elections due in a few months' time.

Tamborinyoka said the party and its Alliance partners will be fielding candidates in all the 210 constituencies and 1 958 wards.

"The executive organ also adopted the campaign programme and restated that the party remains warm to the idea of convergence or a broad church of like-minded democratic institutions so as to liquidate tyranny, oppression and government ineptitude," he said.

He said the executive noted that the High Court ruling by Justice Francis Bere that ordered the two camps to seek arbitration on the matter, saying he could not tell which of the two MDC factions was legitimate.

Chamisa said the ruling will not affect the party's momentum on the ground. There was no substantive judgment issued by the High Court yesterday and no rights that were determined.

There has been a frenzy in the State media and other captured quarters, in a move that the opposition have said clearly reflects that Zanu PF is a shareholder in this fight.

"The national executive took note of the decision of the High Court. It noted with concern the creeping of politics into law and remained concerned that a whole respectable court can choose to relate itself to the issue of the so-called factions which was not even before it.

"What was before the courts, the executive noted, was the issue of expelled party members who were abusing the party's name, trademark, logo and symbols," Tamborinyoka said.

"The executive noted that the court ruling was not going to affect the party's momentum on the ground. The party is putting in place robust mechanisms to ensure that its revolutionary thrust will not be undermined or sidetracked by needless and unnecessary sideshows.

"In short, the party will not lose focus. The executive noted that the issue was now a matter of the MDC-T and the people versus Khupe and Zanu PF. History has shown that the side of the people will always win."