Wheels come off Mwonzora train?

ROWDY MDC-T supporters yesterday violently disrupted a fellow party member who was addressing a Press conference in Harare to expose party leader Douglas Mwonzora's alleged misuse of party funds, assaulted and forced him to abandon the event.

Kudzanai Mashumba, believed to be one of the MDC-T founding members, had to run for dear life after about 10 youths led by youth chairperson Yvonne Musarurwa stormed into the conference room baying for his blood.

During the melee, business came to a standstill along Jason Moyo Street in the central business district as Mashumba sought to escape the attacks.

Luckily, he was whisked away in a passerby's vehicle after the assault that left him nursing multiple injuries.

MDC-T youths also threatened to assault journalists who were interviewing Mashumba. They chanted slogans disowning Mashumba, claiming that he had been sent by their rival faction, the MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa to tarnish Mwonzora's image.

MDC-T party spokesperson Witness Dube, however, described the attack as "a clean political exchange" between the youth and Mashumba.

He said the "intervention" by the youth was meant to stop their party name from being brought into disrepute by Mashumba.

"Kudzanai Mashumba is not a member of the MDC-T party. He was expelled about six months ago from the party over a myriad of offences which include absenteeism, alcoholism and bullying of other workers. He was never a politician. He was a mere worker who rose through the ranks to become vice-president Thokozani Khupe's aide until he was dismissed," Dube said.

"He cannot, therefore, be competent enough to speak on alleged abuse of funds and other party affairs when he was never directly involved in the affairs. The intervention that was conducted by the youth was within the youth's responsibility as the vanguard of the party."

Mashumba claimed to be a serving chief of protocol in the MDC-T, a position he was appointed to by party vice-president Thokozani Khupe.

He accused Mwonzora of abusing $6 million allocated to the party under the Political Parties Finance Act.

Mashumba also accused Mwonzora of imposing himself as the party leader.

"The constitution of the party is very clear on the timetable for any congress.  The term of office of the 2014 office bearers expired in November 2019 and one wonders how and why the current office bearers continue to exercise their functions," he said.

Mashumba said the MDC-T was being led by unelected leaders.

"It is in the public domain that this self-imposed leadership has blocked the people's rights to elect their own leaders and has unashamedly left one person to appoint and co-opt his own cronies into the party leadership, a custom well-orchestrated in Zanu-PF," he said in a written speech he had given to the media before the attack.

In a statement issued later by Dube, he claimed that the commotion was caused by a member of the public who wanted to disrupt the event, with video evidence showing Musarurwa intervening.

He claimed Musarurwa was actually protecting Mashumba.