News / National
MDC crumble under more resignations
16 Mar 2015 at 09:27hrs | Views
More resignations continue to dog the Welshman Ncube led MDC with National Youth Secretary for International Relations and Extenal Affairs, Francis Mufambi being the latest. Mufambi has also renounced his party membership.
In his resignation letter obtained by Bulawayo24.com, Mufambi cites a string of damaging allegations including rampant 'hero worshiping' and MDC 'inheriting sadistic ZANU PF tactics of dealing with enemies real or perceived'.
Below is his letter in full;
11 Creswick road
Hillside, Harare
MARCH 2015
THE MDC NATIONAL YOUTH CHAIR CDE GIDEON MANDAZA
cc. MDC NATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL
REF: RESIGNATION FROM THE POSITION OF NATIONAL YOUTH SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND MEMBERSHIP TERMINATION NOTICE
I have been proud to serve the Movement for Democratic Change for years in the Provincial Assembly of Harare and recently in the National Youth Executive. So it is with great gratitude, and a bit of sorrow, that I must resign from this position henceforth .
Ab initio, it is my assurance to the MDC Youth Assembly that the decision to resign and was a well thought through decision that is beneficial to the party and the whole democratic discourse.
Mr Chairman, I would like to register to you the reasons herein for the resignation.
HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT?
1. DEVIATION FROM PARTY VALUES AND PEREMPTORY NORMS
This is the final straw.
Mr Chairman, the factional issues tainting my name have persisted over a period of time. I have been blamed for many faults within the party and lately a falsely concocted allegiance to the National Chairman Cde Goodrich Chimbaira and the former Secretary General Cde Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga among others. The imagined relations are non existant but mental feelings, creations and imaginations of a few Cdes wishing to position themselves as Security Guards to positions of power within the party at the detriment of the party image and cohesion. As long as I believed there was a chance that democracy, transparency and accountability could prevail in the party I was willing to stay on and fight for it. But where a party membership makes a bid to subvert the party's own processes, asking others to join in a secret, alternative power centre that subverts the properly constituted one, nothing makes sense anymore to me. This is an unacceptable mode of operation for any organization more so an organization explicitly committed to democracy, transparency and accountability.
2. COMPROMISATION OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Cde chair, im sure how you understand our fight for freedom of speech and after speech during the constitution making process and now the compromisation of such a fundamental right does not only beat me hollow but also make me shudder. You remember the times when you would tell me of the questions you had to answer on my contributions on whatsap groups and the final nail came when Cde Miriam Mushayi had to question me on the statement i commented while discussing the Dzamara issue. All such gaggings led me to realise that we are not walking the talk
3.UNCONSTITUTIONALISM, THE POLITICS OF HATRED
It is frightening Mr Chair that we are undergoing a political time where our party is inheriting sadistic ZANU PF tactics of dealing with enemies real or perceived. I started noticing it when senior party leaders were addressed as ‘cowards, rubbish, lunatics and liabilities' in the media and later when as a person I faced with such words of hatred daily. In general such words peddled by Cdes within a democratic party are paradoxical to our identify, they are rather characteristics of a pagan politics which is unscholarly, ignorant if not a condescension sickening type. It is against that backdrop that such unscrupulous members violate one of the fundamental principles enshrined in the party constitution's Section 3.3 (e) which states that;
"The MDC shall seek the mandate of the people to govern the country and work for:……. Respect for the individual through provision and protection of fundamental human rights".
So how then do we seek mandate to protect the people when in our own organization we go berserk engaging in character assassination, rumour mongering and mudslinging? There is also a rapid growth of hero worshipping and cultism, itself an outdated method of political dealing which as you will agree flies in the face of who we seek to be as a paty. This anachronism should be condemned by any democratic party in the world. The question of leadership remains a hot and decisive issue which s [truncated by WhatsApp]
The question of leadership remains a hot and decisive issue which should be adequately engaged and duscussed, however, discussing it or questioning the various formula possible for arriving at such leadership has been viewed as discord and a sure way to make one declared a persona non grata. I also sense a selective application of the law in general and the creation of an animal farm form of politics where some members are more MDC than others depending on whose side they are perceived to be fighting on. In this case Cde Chair, I witnessed the condemnation of the public publishing of internal party issues by Hon Misihairabwi-Mushonga but never saw the same condemnation of such when it was done by Cde Bajila the Secretary General of the Youth Assembly. In my view if Hon Misihairabwi-Mushonga brought the name of the party into disrepute it's undoubted Cde Bajila did the same and should be brought to book for the transgression. Cde Chair, if we can act with gross misconduct and unconstitutionality when we are not in power, how much are we going to act as such when we get into power I wonder?
Lastly I witnessed a press statement on the resignation of the Secretary General which was said to be accepted by the ‘PRESIDENCY' and from my understanding there is no such organ within the Movement for Democratic Change but rather or maybe it was created for convenience. The rightful organ to have accepted and replaced the Secretary General in the constitution was supposed to be the National Council. As a proponent of devolution and transparency I always question why the resignation was not communicated formally to the provinces but was only communicated on WhatsApp? Failure to account for such developments by the President and Deputy President also constitutes a constitutional violation in terms of Article 6.1.1 of the MDC Constitution which reads:
"It shall be the duty of the President to: uphold and defend the Party Constitution' as read with article 6.1.2 which reads, The President: shall in general act as spokesperson of the Party on major policy issues and shall be the principal public representative of the Party, provided that nothing in this Article shall be construed as empowering the President to act or do anything contrary to the Party's principles of open, transparent and democratic decision making.
4. WAY FORWARD
Mr Chairman after critical analysis I have come to the decision to denunciate my membership both of the Youth assembly in particular and the MDC in general. I will be a supporter of the party and the assembly.
I wish the party well in future
CDE FRANCIS MUFAMBI
In his resignation letter obtained by Bulawayo24.com, Mufambi cites a string of damaging allegations including rampant 'hero worshiping' and MDC 'inheriting sadistic ZANU PF tactics of dealing with enemies real or perceived'.
Below is his letter in full;
11 Creswick road
Hillside, Harare
MARCH 2015
THE MDC NATIONAL YOUTH CHAIR CDE GIDEON MANDAZA
cc. MDC NATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL
REF: RESIGNATION FROM THE POSITION OF NATIONAL YOUTH SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND MEMBERSHIP TERMINATION NOTICE
I have been proud to serve the Movement for Democratic Change for years in the Provincial Assembly of Harare and recently in the National Youth Executive. So it is with great gratitude, and a bit of sorrow, that I must resign from this position henceforth .
Ab initio, it is my assurance to the MDC Youth Assembly that the decision to resign and was a well thought through decision that is beneficial to the party and the whole democratic discourse.
Mr Chairman, I would like to register to you the reasons herein for the resignation.
HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT?
This is the final straw.
Mr Chairman, the factional issues tainting my name have persisted over a period of time. I have been blamed for many faults within the party and lately a falsely concocted allegiance to the National Chairman Cde Goodrich Chimbaira and the former Secretary General Cde Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga among others. The imagined relations are non existant but mental feelings, creations and imaginations of a few Cdes wishing to position themselves as Security Guards to positions of power within the party at the detriment of the party image and cohesion. As long as I believed there was a chance that democracy, transparency and accountability could prevail in the party I was willing to stay on and fight for it. But where a party membership makes a bid to subvert the party's own processes, asking others to join in a secret, alternative power centre that subverts the properly constituted one, nothing makes sense anymore to me. This is an unacceptable mode of operation for any organization more so an organization explicitly committed to democracy, transparency and accountability.
2. COMPROMISATION OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Cde chair, im sure how you understand our fight for freedom of speech and after speech during the constitution making process and now the compromisation of such a fundamental right does not only beat me hollow but also make me shudder. You remember the times when you would tell me of the questions you had to answer on my contributions on whatsap groups and the final nail came when Cde Miriam Mushayi had to question me on the statement i commented while discussing the Dzamara issue. All such gaggings led me to realise that we are not walking the talk
3.UNCONSTITUTIONALISM, THE POLITICS OF HATRED
It is frightening Mr Chair that we are undergoing a political time where our party is inheriting sadistic ZANU PF tactics of dealing with enemies real or perceived. I started noticing it when senior party leaders were addressed as ‘cowards, rubbish, lunatics and liabilities' in the media and later when as a person I faced with such words of hatred daily. In general such words peddled by Cdes within a democratic party are paradoxical to our identify, they are rather characteristics of a pagan politics which is unscholarly, ignorant if not a condescension sickening type. It is against that backdrop that such unscrupulous members violate one of the fundamental principles enshrined in the party constitution's Section 3.3 (e) which states that;
"The MDC shall seek the mandate of the people to govern the country and work for:……. Respect for the individual through provision and protection of fundamental human rights".
So how then do we seek mandate to protect the people when in our own organization we go berserk engaging in character assassination, rumour mongering and mudslinging? There is also a rapid growth of hero worshipping and cultism, itself an outdated method of political dealing which as you will agree flies in the face of who we seek to be as a paty. This anachronism should be condemned by any democratic party in the world. The question of leadership remains a hot and decisive issue which s [truncated by WhatsApp]
The question of leadership remains a hot and decisive issue which should be adequately engaged and duscussed, however, discussing it or questioning the various formula possible for arriving at such leadership has been viewed as discord and a sure way to make one declared a persona non grata. I also sense a selective application of the law in general and the creation of an animal farm form of politics where some members are more MDC than others depending on whose side they are perceived to be fighting on. In this case Cde Chair, I witnessed the condemnation of the public publishing of internal party issues by Hon Misihairabwi-Mushonga but never saw the same condemnation of such when it was done by Cde Bajila the Secretary General of the Youth Assembly. In my view if Hon Misihairabwi-Mushonga brought the name of the party into disrepute it's undoubted Cde Bajila did the same and should be brought to book for the transgression. Cde Chair, if we can act with gross misconduct and unconstitutionality when we are not in power, how much are we going to act as such when we get into power I wonder?
Lastly I witnessed a press statement on the resignation of the Secretary General which was said to be accepted by the ‘PRESIDENCY' and from my understanding there is no such organ within the Movement for Democratic Change but rather or maybe it was created for convenience. The rightful organ to have accepted and replaced the Secretary General in the constitution was supposed to be the National Council. As a proponent of devolution and transparency I always question why the resignation was not communicated formally to the provinces but was only communicated on WhatsApp? Failure to account for such developments by the President and Deputy President also constitutes a constitutional violation in terms of Article 6.1.1 of the MDC Constitution which reads:
"It shall be the duty of the President to: uphold and defend the Party Constitution' as read with article 6.1.2 which reads, The President: shall in general act as spokesperson of the Party on major policy issues and shall be the principal public representative of the Party, provided that nothing in this Article shall be construed as empowering the President to act or do anything contrary to the Party's principles of open, transparent and democratic decision making.
4. WAY FORWARD
Mr Chairman after critical analysis I have come to the decision to denunciate my membership both of the Youth assembly in particular and the MDC in general. I will be a supporter of the party and the assembly.
I wish the party well in future
CDE FRANCIS MUFAMBI
Source - Byo24News
