News / National
MDC continues to lose vital members
26 Feb 2015 at 09:00hrs | Views
IN the past two years, following their loss in the 2013 elections, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Welshman Ncube has had a growing number of its key members leaving the nest.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga After a rigorous election campaign trail in the run-up to the 2013 poll, the MDC had nothing to show for its expended energy as it came a distant third after Zanu-PF and the mainstream MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Ncube's MDC did not win a single seat in Parliament, a reversal of the 10 National Assembly seats it had held in the previous unity government.
Since the July 31 elections, the MDC has not been itself, plodding along and has reeled at different intervals over the resignation of top officials.
The Financial Gazette this week took a look at the different top MDC party officials who at one time were a vital cog in the party's machinery but left, leaving the party image dented.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, former MDC secretary general
The former "SG" as she was affectionately known by far the highest ranking member of the MDC to step down from her influential post. Now an ordinary card-carrying member, all that Misihairabwi-Mushonga has to fall back on is her parliamentary seat. Misihairabwi-Mushonga took up the parliamentary seat reserved under proportional representation for women in August 2013 in a cloud of controversy over her choice. Critics claimed that she was not from the Matabeleland South constituency which she stated to represent, but was protected by the party president Ncube.
Her departure from the MDC's top brass appears to pave the way for the MDC Renewal Team led by Sekai Holland to possibly scoop up more posts in the pending unification of the two parties scheduled for later this year. Prior to her resignation, Misihairabwi-Mushonga's name was often tossed around as a strong contender for the SG post in the amalgamated parties. Her resignation forces Ncube to return back to the drawing board as he now has to see which of his lieutenants of equal clout can contest for the SG post at the joint congress. By his own admission, Ncube in a letter to his leadership last week described events around Misihairabwi-Mushonga's departure as a "very difficult period" and called for the party to undergo a time of serious and silent reflection.
Qhubani Moyo, former MDC policy director
The former director of research and policy in the MDC was the strategist of the splinter movement. Moyo resigned in the aftermath of the shock defeat of the 2013 election after the MDC failed to clinch even a single seat after rolling out nationwide election campaigns. The devolution campaign which Moyo is widely thought to have been the chief architect failed to carry the day, woo voters and see the MDC make any impact in its maiden political contest. In fact, the envisaged battle to wrestle the hearts and minds of voters in Matabeleland from the MDC-T proved to be a damp squib as the latter asserted its stranglehold in the three provinces, with the MDC failing to dislodge it from its political pedestal.
In retrospect, Moyo said the failure to forge a coalition with Tsvangirai in the run up to the election had been his former party's greatest undoing. "An alliance of the two MDCs could have assisted to improve the parliamentary tally and, in particular, was going to assist the Ncube formation, but it would not have assisted in totally dislodging Zanu-PF…," he said. Presumably devastated, Moyo resigned from the MDC to further his studies and took up a teaching post at the National University of Science and Technology. He also doubles up as a political analyst. Moyo is one of the bidders in the running for a radio licence for the Bulawayo metropolitan province and was involved in the public hearings staged by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe last year.
Edwin Ndlovu, former MDC spokesman
Ndlovu has turned out to be a political turncoat since his exit from the MDC at the end of March last year. The grounds for his resignation were over his displeasure with the party's performance during the elections, even though it had "sold a very good product, but did not get the votes". After initially claiming he would concentrate on his studies he had a brief dalliance with the MDC-T, only days after his exit from Ncube's MDC. With the turmoil in the MDC-T and the formation of a breakaway party, Ndlovu again jumped ship and joined the MDC Renewal Team. He ditched the MDC-T citing frustrations at the endless power squabbles and infighting for control of Bulawayo structures. Now the provincial spokesman for the MDC Renewal Team, Ndlovu may well find himself having to work with his former colleagues in the MDC, as the re-unification between the two political formations looms.
Others
In March last year, the MDC boat was rocked when two key executives, Edward Mkhosi and Siyabonga Malandu Ncube, both former legislators, defected to MDC-T at a rally at Stanley Square in Bulawayo. The two were reportedly unhappy with the alleged imposition of Misihairabwi-Mushonga in Umzingwane District, Matabeleland South and wanted her to quit.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga After a rigorous election campaign trail in the run-up to the 2013 poll, the MDC had nothing to show for its expended energy as it came a distant third after Zanu-PF and the mainstream MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Ncube's MDC did not win a single seat in Parliament, a reversal of the 10 National Assembly seats it had held in the previous unity government.
Since the July 31 elections, the MDC has not been itself, plodding along and has reeled at different intervals over the resignation of top officials.
The Financial Gazette this week took a look at the different top MDC party officials who at one time were a vital cog in the party's machinery but left, leaving the party image dented.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, former MDC secretary general
The former "SG" as she was affectionately known by far the highest ranking member of the MDC to step down from her influential post. Now an ordinary card-carrying member, all that Misihairabwi-Mushonga has to fall back on is her parliamentary seat. Misihairabwi-Mushonga took up the parliamentary seat reserved under proportional representation for women in August 2013 in a cloud of controversy over her choice. Critics claimed that she was not from the Matabeleland South constituency which she stated to represent, but was protected by the party president Ncube.
Her departure from the MDC's top brass appears to pave the way for the MDC Renewal Team led by Sekai Holland to possibly scoop up more posts in the pending unification of the two parties scheduled for later this year. Prior to her resignation, Misihairabwi-Mushonga's name was often tossed around as a strong contender for the SG post in the amalgamated parties. Her resignation forces Ncube to return back to the drawing board as he now has to see which of his lieutenants of equal clout can contest for the SG post at the joint congress. By his own admission, Ncube in a letter to his leadership last week described events around Misihairabwi-Mushonga's departure as a "very difficult period" and called for the party to undergo a time of serious and silent reflection.
Qhubani Moyo, former MDC policy director
The former director of research and policy in the MDC was the strategist of the splinter movement. Moyo resigned in the aftermath of the shock defeat of the 2013 election after the MDC failed to clinch even a single seat after rolling out nationwide election campaigns. The devolution campaign which Moyo is widely thought to have been the chief architect failed to carry the day, woo voters and see the MDC make any impact in its maiden political contest. In fact, the envisaged battle to wrestle the hearts and minds of voters in Matabeleland from the MDC-T proved to be a damp squib as the latter asserted its stranglehold in the three provinces, with the MDC failing to dislodge it from its political pedestal.
In retrospect, Moyo said the failure to forge a coalition with Tsvangirai in the run up to the election had been his former party's greatest undoing. "An alliance of the two MDCs could have assisted to improve the parliamentary tally and, in particular, was going to assist the Ncube formation, but it would not have assisted in totally dislodging Zanu-PF…," he said. Presumably devastated, Moyo resigned from the MDC to further his studies and took up a teaching post at the National University of Science and Technology. He also doubles up as a political analyst. Moyo is one of the bidders in the running for a radio licence for the Bulawayo metropolitan province and was involved in the public hearings staged by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe last year.
Edwin Ndlovu, former MDC spokesman
Ndlovu has turned out to be a political turncoat since his exit from the MDC at the end of March last year. The grounds for his resignation were over his displeasure with the party's performance during the elections, even though it had "sold a very good product, but did not get the votes". After initially claiming he would concentrate on his studies he had a brief dalliance with the MDC-T, only days after his exit from Ncube's MDC. With the turmoil in the MDC-T and the formation of a breakaway party, Ndlovu again jumped ship and joined the MDC Renewal Team. He ditched the MDC-T citing frustrations at the endless power squabbles and infighting for control of Bulawayo structures. Now the provincial spokesman for the MDC Renewal Team, Ndlovu may well find himself having to work with his former colleagues in the MDC, as the re-unification between the two political formations looms.
Others
In March last year, the MDC boat was rocked when two key executives, Edward Mkhosi and Siyabonga Malandu Ncube, both former legislators, defected to MDC-T at a rally at Stanley Square in Bulawayo. The two were reportedly unhappy with the alleged imposition of Misihairabwi-Mushonga in Umzingwane District, Matabeleland South and wanted her to quit.
Source - fingaz
