MDC congress dates released

MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume has dismissed reports by some sections of the media that the MDC Congress has been slated for July 2019.

"It was realised that delaying the congress to October was feeding into the narrative that Chamisa was too keen to hold onto power without congress approval. The only problem now is that we should hold smaller congresses at all levels of the party, starting with the branch, the ward, the district and then the province before the national congress happens," sources were quoted saying.

However Mafume  set the record straight and said, "There have been many speculations over the date for the MDC party congress. The party's position is still the same. The congress will be held in terms of the Constitution and the latest it will be held in October 2019 .Any changes to that will done through the appropriate organs."

The sources had claimed that MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has relented to pressure from some of his senior lieutenants to bring forward the party's long-awaited congress from October to June this year as factional tensions in the country's main opposition movement reaches boiling point, it emerged this week.

There are reports that Vice President Elias Mudzuri and Secretary General Douglas Mwonzora are gunning for the Presidency of the party.

Chamisa took over as MDC president in controversial circumstances last year after he outwitted his then two co-vice-presidents, Elias Mudzuri and Thokozani Khupe, during a cat-fight which played out at a time former founding president Morgan Tsvangirai was on his deathbed in South Africa.