MDC Umzingwane District up against Welshman Ncube

Some "very senior" members of the Welshman Ncube MDC in Umzingwane have approached Bulawayo24 News to express their anger at what they called "utter disregard of their structure" by the party leadership.

According to the members who are in the District Executive, party members in the district are "fed up" of having decisions concerning their district being made without them being consulted. The members are making the complaint amongst reports that the MDC National Executive has elevated people from the district to standing committee positions without their input and according to them those people do not deserve to be put there.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the members claim that the recent appointments of Peggy Khumalo and Ngqabutho Dube to the National Standing Committee without consulting the District is a further violation of their existence in the party after "several such" violations were made before.

According to the members, Ncube should have sort for their input first if he was a real democrat as the District has serious reservations about the duo.

"Peggy Khumalo and his son Mthulisi Ncube who was the Youth Provincial Chairman have joined ZANU PF and they are terrorising us in the wards with ZANU PF members but Ncube without consulting us at all goes on to appoint her to a senior position," said one of the members.

"We were shocked to the core to hear that Peggy has been put to the National Executive when we thought its an open secret that she is now a ZANU PF member. I wonder if they know that even the Provincial Chairman of the youth is now a ZANU PF member?" added another of the members.

On Ngqabutho Dube, the members claim that the District has never liked him because of the way he bulldozed himself to be House of Assembly candidate in the recent election. They also accuse him of being arrogant and being double standards. The members claim that Dube would come to the District meetings parading party Secretary General Priscillia Misihairabwi Mushonga and then later behind her back accuse her of bulldozing herself to the District women quota parliamentary seat.

"Prof and Priscillia trust Ngqabutho so much but he is a very divisive and dangerous double standard person and such a person can not be a leader. So many times he spread gossip in the district about other members leading to us not trusting each other and losing members. He is not a good leader," said a female member of the "delegation".

The members expressed their utmost anger that the party always appears to take them for granted by just imposing candidates, leaders and decisions on them without consultation from the grass roots. They mentioned highly the placing of Misihairabwi Mushonga and Dube as their candidates as the worst that the party has ever done to them. They insist that Professor Ncube should immediately withdraw Khumalo and his son Mthulisi from party structures as they are openly working with ZANU PF and continue to discredit the party in public. They also want the party leadership to explain why Dube continues to be treated with special gloves at the top when the grass roots in the district he claims to represent don't want him there at all.

"If Dube wants to work in the name of Umzingwane District he must first come down to us and talk to us and listen to us otherwise we don't know him in this district," said one of the members.

The MDC has since last year suffered heavy loss of membership and leaders after party Secretary General Mushonga was seconded to the women's quota representation as a representative of Umzingwane District. In the July 31 elections, the party fared their worst ever in Umzingwane District which may have been a clear confirmation that all was not well in that constituency. In the run up to the election 12 of the MDC's then councillors defected en mass from the party claiming the party raising concerns of a problem in the party.