'Mwonzora a crook'

FORMER Bulawayo MDC senator, Matson Hlalo has distanced himself from a Facebook post published early this week by the MDC-T claiming the firebrand politician is an active member of the party.

An MDC-T official Christopher Mtetwa posted a photo accompanied with a message implying  that Hlalo, also a former Bulawayo councillor, was one of the people on the photo.

"President Mwonzora will win by over 66% of the ballot. Feeling fantastic with Matson Hlalo and four others in Chikanga 2 Mutare," reads part Mtetwa's post.

However, the post immediately attracted the wrath of the former legislator who distanced himself from the Douglas Mwonzora-led party.

"Me and Mwonzora are like oil and water. We do not mix at all. The last time when I had contact with him was several years ago when he caused my expulsion from Parliament," Hlalo said.

"Mwonzora made sure that the letter of expulsion was hidden from me so that I could not challenge the purported reasons for my dismissal from the party which eventually led to my expulsion from Parliament," Hlalo told NewZimbabwe.com.

He went on to describe Mwonzora as a crook.

"I do not wish to meet or hear anything about that crooked person. The level of his party's desperation for support is embarrassing. Feeling fantastic to be with me , my foot!"

Hlalo said he has never been to Mutare for a very long time.

The MDC Alliance Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Swithern Chirowodza said the MDC-T was claiming membership from non-supporters.

"This is not the first time the MDC-T has claimed membership to people who are not their members. We are not surprised by this command membership which the party is trying to borrow from their colleagues in Zanu-PF," Chirowodza said.

Efforts to get comment from the MDC-T spokesperson Witness Dube were unsuccessful.