Chamisa's allies 'snub' MDC Alliance anniversary celebrations

Some senior national MDC Alliance members allegedly snubbed the party's 22nd-anniversary celebrations held in Bulawayo over the weekend after they were reportedly informed about the event on the day, exposing the turmoil and cracks in the opposition party, CITE established.

Conspicuous by her absence was outspoken MDC Alliance National Chairperson, Thabitha Khumalo, raising suspicions that she snubbed the event, as she is always hands-on at party activities.

Sources told this publication that cracks among party leaders, especially in its standing committee.

For starters, sources claimed the 22nd-anniversary gathering was allegedly organised by members from Harare's organising committee with no involvement from Bulawayo provincial members who were unaware the province will host the event.

"Due to such exclusion, some senior party leaders were angered by this and were also in the dark about the itinerary of party president ( Nelson Chamisa) and refused to be used for keeping up appearances. They did not even know that Chamisa was even coming to Bulawayo or proceeding to Maphisa where he held meeting with individuals such as the former speaker of parliament, Lovemore Moyo," sources claimed.

"Some party structures even learnt of the event later that afternoon, not officially but from others in WhatsApp groups. The venue was also a well-kept secret, with some party structures begging for directions. When the Bulawayo province asked when the event was organised, they were told the previous day."

In an interview with CITE, Khumalo laughed off the allegations and said she was one of the most loyal MDC Alliance cadres but of late had not been attending events as she was battling cancer.

"I realised people know me as this very hyper somebody who is all over the place and doing things. On April 24, 2020, I was diagnosed with cancer. So at this point in time, I am trying to avoid being in the public because my immune system is very, very low and chances of picking up any infection are very high," she said.

"So it's not snubbing, it's about trying to contain my health hopefully be ready to work if I win this cancer fight."

Khumalo also emphasised there was no turmoil in MDC Alliance but pointed out divisions were caused by infiltrators who wanted to destroy the opposition party.

"As the MDC Alliance led by Advocate Nelson Chamisa, our party is intact and as we all know that currently, everybody is throwing spanners into the works to make sure the party comes to its demise. So as the party, we are very strong, yes, but the infiltration is there so what we need to do is make sure that our cadres guard against this infiltration for us to go to a better Zimbabwe

MDC Alliance Bulawayo Provincial Spokesperson, Swithern Chirowodza added there was nothing amiss about Khumalo's absence, as there were several national senior members who also did not attend due to Covid-19 restrictions.

"There is nothing to this. You are just nitpicking trying to create a story when there isn't one. We have some standing committee members such as party Secretary General Charlton Hwende, National Spokesperson Fadzai Mahere, Secretary for Elections Ian Makone. Even one of the founding MDC leaders, deputy National Spokesperson, Felix Mafa, from Bulawayo didn't come. It's not because these members didn't want to attend but had to comply with the Covid-19 restrictions and keep numbers less than 100 otherwise our event would have attracted thousands," Chirowodza said, adding "these lies are raised by varakashi (social media trolls) on Twitter to try and create divisions."