Chamisa vs Tsvangirai, 'constitutional renewal' row, daggers drawn

Forget Welshman Ncube, forget Tendai Biti or even forget Elton Mangoma and the Daniel Bennetts, Morgan Tsvangirai has finally found the real battle for his survival in the leadership of the MDC T in young party Organising Secretary Nelson Chamisa.

Confirmed reports from inside the party are that Chamisa is out in full force to challenge Tsvangirai for the party leadership in the early elective congress scheduled for October this year. The young and very ambitious Chamisa is said to be out in full force on a campaign within the party structures openly expressing his readiness to challenge Tsvangirai besides previous warnings from party Acting Secretary General Tapuwa Mashakada that no one will be allowed to challenge Tsvangirai at the congress.

The Tsvangirai led party has been in a leadership renewal rift since the out come of the July 31 elections. The rift took ground after then Deputy Treasurer Elton Mangoma wrote a letter to Morgan Tsvangirai calling on him to step down from party leadership and call for an early elective congress to choose a new party president. Mangoma's call met very strong resistance from those pro Tsvangirai calling his move unconstitutional and rebellious leading to his suspension and eventually dismissal from the party.

Mangoma's dismissal triggered a mass support for the call for Tsvangirai's retirement from party president resulting in then Secretary General Tendai Biti hoisting several other senior party leaders to rally behind Mangoma's call breaking the party into two factions in favour and against the removal of Tsvangirai as party leader. The divisions ended up with numerous suspensions and dismissals from the party which are at the moment on their way into the hands of the courts to determine which suspension is legal and which is not and who is suspended and who is not.

In the wake of all the divisions and suspensions, party President Tsvangirai (also under another suspension) called forward the elective party congress initially scheduled for early 2016 to October 2014. After the call, the pro Tsvangirai grouping made it open that the president's position will not be available for election but reserved for Tsvangirai to go for it unchallenged. However, Chamisa who has never taken time to hide his interests in taking over party presidency from Tsvangirai has rubbished the call for Tsvangirai not to be challenged and is out in full force to challenge him.

Reports from inside the party indicate that the young Chamisa has managed to garner the support of the party's youth movement from all the provinces and is making huge strides in gaining support from the provincial main structures particularly in Masvingo and Manicaland provinces.

"We all agreed that Mangoma's call for Tsvangirai to step down outside congress was unconstitutional, now congress is here and Chamisa has every right to challenge Tsvangirai at the congress. Those people who are saying he must not be challenged are dreaming and its them who are being unconstitutional now," said a source who is a member of the youth movement.

Asked about how they take party returnee Job Sikhala's bashing of Chamisa that he was still too young and inexperienced to run for presidency, the sources were quick to say that Sikhala should be the last person to be involve in the leadership renewal issue.

"Who is Sikhala to come and tell us that? A prodigal son can not come and dictate pace on people who never left the party. If he wants to get a position in the party he must just keep quiet and leave us to do our thing and we will see where to place him otherwise he will go empty handed," said the youth leader.

Some sources within the party have also expressed sentiments that Job Sikhala himself also has ambitions to take over from Tsvangirai but his chances are said to be very slim compared to Chamisa who looks set to topple the much fancied Tsvangirai. Chamisa's chances are however being dented by some sectors within the party who claim that Chamisa has suspicious relationship with senior ZANU PF leaders including President Mugabe himself and can not be trusted with leading the party.

It has been proven that Chamisa runs a fleet of trucks that are contracted to ferry milk from the President's dairy farm Gushungo Dairies and is in constant business dealings with the first family. Some sectors within the MDC also claim that Chamisa has a very good understand with ZANU PF big men Patrick Chinamasa and ZANU PF presidential hopeful Emmerson Munangagwa.

"Those are sentiments of people who are just out to discredit Chamisa, as a youth movement we are not going to listen to that and are going to go flat out to make sure that Chamisa wins elections at the congress. We don't want to start talking of Tsvangirai's relationships with ZANU PF some of which have always led us to losing elections," fought back the youth leader.

The congress however lives in balance as it is relying on how the courts will rule on who is the legitimate leader of the party. If Tsvangirai is proven to be suspended then his call for the congress becomes invalid and the congress will not take place.