Mwonzora to recall MPs loyal to Khupe

MDC-T president Douglas Mwonzora is planning to recall more legislators from Parliament as well as councillors who continue to defy him and remain loyal to Thokozani Khupe as he moves to consolidate power.

Mwonzora was last month elected MDC-T president after beating Khupe, Morgan Komichi and Elias Mudzuri at an extraordinary election held in the capital.

The planned move by Mwonzora was confirmed this week by the party spokesperson, Witness Dube, who said the matter was under consideration.

"We know that our principal is not happy with some of the party members whom he has accused of wanting to cause disharmony in the party by continuing to support madam [Thokozani] Khupe; these include MPs and councillors.

We expect to see more of them being recalled [from Parliament and council]," Dube told Business Times.

The party's chairman, Morgan Komichi, also confirmed the development.

"My office has received complaints from many MPs and councillors wanting to be protected from recalls.

But, we are saying as party leadership lets unite since the elections are over. We cannot afford to be fighting each other as this will split the party," Komichi said.

It is understood that the pending recalls have only been halted because of lockdown measures put in place by the government to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Parliament has also suspended its business and is only expected to resume next month.Last year, MDC-T recalled more than 35 MDC Alliance MPs and councillors who were accused of supporting the main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.

The party got the powers to recall lawmakers and councillors after the Supreme Court ruled that Chamisa' leadership was illegitimate and instructed the party to go for an extraordinary congress using the 2014 structures.

The extraordinary congress was held last month.

Meanwhile, the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T on Tuesday recalled two MDC Alliance councillors for Lupane's Kusile Rural District Council (KRDC).

The two councillors, June Mpofu of ward 15 and Thabani Dube of ward 19 were supposed to have been recalled last September after Local Government minister July Moyo wrote to advise council that the MDC-T had ordered the duo's recall.

They became the first batch of councillors to be recalled this year after over 165 were recalled last year following a March Supreme Court ruling that declared MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa an illegitimate leader.