Opinion / Columnist
'Military coups are not the solution . . .'
04 Aug 2016 at 01:40hrs | Views
Once upon a time, a political party known as MDC-T boasted and claimed to be the champion of democracy in Zimbabwe. The opposition political party also had a following earning itself the title of main opposition party in Zimbabwe. But recent history has revealed that the opposition party has shown its true colours that democracy never existed within its ranks or has simply died a natural death.
Events that are unfolding in MDC-T show that all talk about democracy now remain tales as the political party has been scoring own goals in the past few weeks.
After realising that his medical status was not treating him too good, MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, thought it was wise for his party to have three deputy presidents. According to him, this decision was aboveboard.
What is now surprising is that most of his officials are against this decision, meaning they were not consulted when this decision was made.
It was reported in a local private weekly newspaper that last Wednesday, 11 standing committee members who had attended a party meeting in Harare were shocked with the appointment of Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri hence, further questioned on how the two were elevated to the posts of deputy presidents.
It was noted that these standing committee members were also calling for the reversal of the decision made by their boss as it was ultra vires.
Surely, in any party that is democratic, decisions should be made after a consensus is reached by every member of the decision making board.
People should be able to express their views openly without fear.
It is actually a surprise that Chalton Hwende, a close buddy of Tsvangirai, has been on a tirade of discouraging other party members from airing their views.
Just because 11 people are against Tsvangirai's resolution, Hwende orders that they should be fired.
This is not democracy.
Reports had it that MDC-T national council held an emergency meeting yesterday to try and resolve the internal fissures generated by the appointment of the additional two deputies.
MDC-T is on record as criticising ZANU-PF for holding indabas to resolve party issues.
Now that the tables have turned, it is now MDC-T's turn to hold a series of these meetings.
If Mr Tsvangirai fails to cautiously handle and justify the appointment of the two vice presidents, an imminent split is likely to happen.
People believe in democracy and not in Tsvangirai's dictatorial leadership. Meanwhile, MDC-T youth league, which is understood to be that party's vanguard, is prescribing for the removal of Obert Gutu from his post as the party spokesperson.
The MDC-T youth league wants to remove Gutu from his current post primarily because he noted that he was not privy to the latest development regarding the appointment of Chamisa and Mudzuri hence directed the questions to his boss, Tsvangirai.
Considering that the appointments of the two deputies were done at Tsvangirai's home in the presence of only two people, his wife Elizabeth and his spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, Gutu sentiments were spot on.
Gutu's absence from that event means that he was not aware of what actually transpired.
Was he supposed to tell a lie on something that he wasn't sure of?
MDC-T youths have no valid point in calling for Gutu's ouster as party's spokesperson.
The fact that MDC-T is now divided into factions is purely the reason why the youths want Gutu to be removed from his post.
It is believed that there are two factions within MDC-T – the one aligned to Tsvangirai and the other one linked to Tsvangirai's long-serving deputy president, Thokozani Khupe.
From the look of things, all is not well within MDC-T.
There are a lot of misunderstandings surrounding the idea of the appointment of Chamisa and Mudzuri as vice presidents.
Last month, two MDC-T members, namely Partson Murimoga and George Rice, filed a High Court application seeking nullification of the appointments. This is an indication that most of the party members, including Tsvangirai, are either not versed with the party's constitution or are ignorant of its contents.
Events that are unfolding in MDC-T show that all talk about democracy now remain tales as the political party has been scoring own goals in the past few weeks.
After realising that his medical status was not treating him too good, MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, thought it was wise for his party to have three deputy presidents. According to him, this decision was aboveboard.
What is now surprising is that most of his officials are against this decision, meaning they were not consulted when this decision was made.
It was reported in a local private weekly newspaper that last Wednesday, 11 standing committee members who had attended a party meeting in Harare were shocked with the appointment of Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri hence, further questioned on how the two were elevated to the posts of deputy presidents.
It was noted that these standing committee members were also calling for the reversal of the decision made by their boss as it was ultra vires.
Surely, in any party that is democratic, decisions should be made after a consensus is reached by every member of the decision making board.
People should be able to express their views openly without fear.
It is actually a surprise that Chalton Hwende, a close buddy of Tsvangirai, has been on a tirade of discouraging other party members from airing their views.
Just because 11 people are against Tsvangirai's resolution, Hwende orders that they should be fired.
This is not democracy.
Reports had it that MDC-T national council held an emergency meeting yesterday to try and resolve the internal fissures generated by the appointment of the additional two deputies.
MDC-T is on record as criticising ZANU-PF for holding indabas to resolve party issues.
If Mr Tsvangirai fails to cautiously handle and justify the appointment of the two vice presidents, an imminent split is likely to happen.
People believe in democracy and not in Tsvangirai's dictatorial leadership. Meanwhile, MDC-T youth league, which is understood to be that party's vanguard, is prescribing for the removal of Obert Gutu from his post as the party spokesperson.
The MDC-T youth league wants to remove Gutu from his current post primarily because he noted that he was not privy to the latest development regarding the appointment of Chamisa and Mudzuri hence directed the questions to his boss, Tsvangirai.
Considering that the appointments of the two deputies were done at Tsvangirai's home in the presence of only two people, his wife Elizabeth and his spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, Gutu sentiments were spot on.
Gutu's absence from that event means that he was not aware of what actually transpired.
Was he supposed to tell a lie on something that he wasn't sure of?
MDC-T youths have no valid point in calling for Gutu's ouster as party's spokesperson.
The fact that MDC-T is now divided into factions is purely the reason why the youths want Gutu to be removed from his post.
It is believed that there are two factions within MDC-T – the one aligned to Tsvangirai and the other one linked to Tsvangirai's long-serving deputy president, Thokozani Khupe.
From the look of things, all is not well within MDC-T.
There are a lot of misunderstandings surrounding the idea of the appointment of Chamisa and Mudzuri as vice presidents.
Last month, two MDC-T members, namely Partson Murimoga and George Rice, filed a High Court application seeking nullification of the appointments. This is an indication that most of the party members, including Tsvangirai, are either not versed with the party's constitution or are ignorant of its contents.
Source - Peacemaker Zano
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