Tsvangirai's rips Zanu Ndonga apart

ZANU Ndonga has reportedly been ripped apart by the involvement last year by the MDC-T party in the memorial service for the late party leader Ndabaningi Sithole.

Knives are now out for the party chairman Reketai Semwayo who last year declared MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai as the "president" of Zanu Ndonga which he said was leaderless.

Party members now reportedly accuse Semwayo of selling the party by declaring Tsvangirai its leader. Gondai Paul Vhutuza, who claims to be the Zanu Ndonga president, told NewsDay yesterday that the MDC-T had violated numerous traditional practices and their involvement in the memorial service last year was a betrayal of the late Sithole.

"That they did what they did without consulting the party leadership betrayed the party and the wishes of Sithole. I am the legitimate president of Zanu (Ndonga) and I was put in that place by Sithole," Vhutuza said.

"The party's intended traditional ceremony was abandoned because the MDC-T took over and we had to keep a distance because we know Sithole would not be happy with that. Ours is a party that follows its tradition and the people of Chipinge want things to be done in a proper way not what they did," he said. Vhutuza claimed that he "speaks to Sithole in dreams" and was instructed to call for an opposition parties' convention and come up with a decision on how to vote in the forthcoming referendum.

"Semwayo was wrong to declare Tsvangirai president of the party. I speak to Sithole in my dreams and he told me to organise an opposition party convention to oppose the draft constitution."

But Semwayo defended his alliance with the MDC-T and confirmed that he will stand in Chipinge Central either on a Zanu (Ndonga) or MDC-T ticket.

"The president of the party should come from a congress and ever since the death of Sithole, we have not gone for a congress. As the chairman of the party, I lead the steering committee and since we don't have a president, we declared Tsvangirai our president as we go for elections," Semwayo said.
"I will be meeting

(MDC-T organising secretary) Nelson Chamisa over the issue so that we decide on whether to stand as Zanu Ndonga or MDC-T," he said. Senior MDC-T officials declined to comment on the matter saying it was internal party politics that they would not interfere with.