News / Local
Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti teams meet in Bulawayo
18 Nov 2014 at 14:50hrs | Views
A high powered delegations of the MDC renewal team led by former Finance minister Tendai Biti and the MDC of Professor Welshman Ncube met yesterday at the offices of the latter in another leg of a series of meetings being held to put final touches to their proposed unity.
Both parties have not concealed the "advanced stage" at which their unity talks are, and yesterday's meeting was attended by leaders of the two formations who deserted MDC-T accusing its leader Morgan Tsvangirai of overstaying his welcome and failing to take the opposition party to the 'promised land'.
Former Finance minister Tendai Biti, who was incidentally in Bulawayo for a funeral of a relative, led the MDC renewal team comprising of Elton Mangoma, Sekai Holland Samuel Sipepa Nkomo while Ncube led his team made up of Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga, Paul Temba Nyathi, Moses Mzila Ndlovu, Goodrich Chimbaira and Lucia Matibenga.
In an interview with The Zimbabwe Mail after the meeting Biti confirmed the meeting he described as "historic" considering that it was held at the original offices of the MDC before it split into three formations.
"Where like minds that are concerned about their principals, who are the people of Zimbabwe meet, such meetings go well and this was historic in that we met at the original offices of the MDC; the meeting went well," he said.
"It was for people that are not preoccupied by which office they will hold," he added.
Biti said after the burial of his relative that the parties met in the afternoon and everything pointed towards a reunification.
The MDC led by Ncube retained the original offices of the MDC before it split.
Prior to the meeting, the MDC said a leader of the unified party would be chosen at their inaugural elective congress, assuming agreements for a full and complete re-unification have been reached.
In a statement yesterday, MDC spokesperson Nhlanhla Dube refuted press reports about the existence of a 12-point guideline on the reunification the MDC renewal team and MDC which said Tendai Biti would lead the unified party and also distanced their union from the National Constitutional Assembly led by Professor Lovemore Madhuku.
''The MDC would like to put it on record that the story of Sunday 16 November 2014 titled: Biti set to lead united MDC was patently and materially false," he said.
"Firstly, the Memorandum of Understanding which was signed by the secretary generals of MDC and MDC renewal team on October 8 2014 does not, in any way, shape or form a 12 point plan. Secondly, the ongoing re-unification negotiations which are at an advanced stage and progressing steadily have not created or utilised any framework called a 12 point guideline. Of this, we are certain and unequivocal," said Dube.
A Sunday publication reported that guidelines on the re-unification of the two MDC formations, which both split from the MDC-T led by Morgan Tsvangirai, albeit differently, were contained in "the 12-point guidelines on the reunification agreement between the MDC renewal team and MDC".
"That does not exist as a creation of the two parties and thus is a fictional creation of the proportion of Nancy Drew stories," said Dube.
Nancy Drew is a fictional character who first appeared in 1930 mystery fiction series created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer.
"The NCA party led by Professor Lovemore Madhuku are not and have never been a feature of the re-unification conversations hence the claim to Prof. Madhuku being part of the future leadership of the re-unified MDC is spurious, malicious and mischievous in the least," said Dube.
He said their parties' tenets of democracy which they 'swear and live by' require that all leaders be chosen by the people whom they seek to represent. In this regard, the party's structures will freely choose their leaders at the party's Inaugural Elective Congress, assuming that the negotiating parties agree to full and complete re-unification.
"It is, therefore, false that anyone has been designated president, secretary-general, organiser, spokesperson or any other portfolio of the party before it has even been formed," said Dube.
Both parties have not concealed the "advanced stage" at which their unity talks are, and yesterday's meeting was attended by leaders of the two formations who deserted MDC-T accusing its leader Morgan Tsvangirai of overstaying his welcome and failing to take the opposition party to the 'promised land'.
Former Finance minister Tendai Biti, who was incidentally in Bulawayo for a funeral of a relative, led the MDC renewal team comprising of Elton Mangoma, Sekai Holland Samuel Sipepa Nkomo while Ncube led his team made up of Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga, Paul Temba Nyathi, Moses Mzila Ndlovu, Goodrich Chimbaira and Lucia Matibenga.
In an interview with The Zimbabwe Mail after the meeting Biti confirmed the meeting he described as "historic" considering that it was held at the original offices of the MDC before it split into three formations.
"Where like minds that are concerned about their principals, who are the people of Zimbabwe meet, such meetings go well and this was historic in that we met at the original offices of the MDC; the meeting went well," he said.
"It was for people that are not preoccupied by which office they will hold," he added.
Biti said after the burial of his relative that the parties met in the afternoon and everything pointed towards a reunification.
The MDC led by Ncube retained the original offices of the MDC before it split.
Prior to the meeting, the MDC said a leader of the unified party would be chosen at their inaugural elective congress, assuming agreements for a full and complete re-unification have been reached.
In a statement yesterday, MDC spokesperson Nhlanhla Dube refuted press reports about the existence of a 12-point guideline on the reunification the MDC renewal team and MDC which said Tendai Biti would lead the unified party and also distanced their union from the National Constitutional Assembly led by Professor Lovemore Madhuku.
''The MDC would like to put it on record that the story of Sunday 16 November 2014 titled: Biti set to lead united MDC was patently and materially false," he said.
"Firstly, the Memorandum of Understanding which was signed by the secretary generals of MDC and MDC renewal team on October 8 2014 does not, in any way, shape or form a 12 point plan. Secondly, the ongoing re-unification negotiations which are at an advanced stage and progressing steadily have not created or utilised any framework called a 12 point guideline. Of this, we are certain and unequivocal," said Dube.
A Sunday publication reported that guidelines on the re-unification of the two MDC formations, which both split from the MDC-T led by Morgan Tsvangirai, albeit differently, were contained in "the 12-point guidelines on the reunification agreement between the MDC renewal team and MDC".
"That does not exist as a creation of the two parties and thus is a fictional creation of the proportion of Nancy Drew stories," said Dube.
Nancy Drew is a fictional character who first appeared in 1930 mystery fiction series created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer.
"The NCA party led by Professor Lovemore Madhuku are not and have never been a feature of the re-unification conversations hence the claim to Prof. Madhuku being part of the future leadership of the re-unified MDC is spurious, malicious and mischievous in the least," said Dube.
He said their parties' tenets of democracy which they 'swear and live by' require that all leaders be chosen by the people whom they seek to represent. In this regard, the party's structures will freely choose their leaders at the party's Inaugural Elective Congress, assuming that the negotiating parties agree to full and complete re-unification.
"It is, therefore, false that anyone has been designated president, secretary-general, organiser, spokesperson or any other portfolio of the party before it has even been formed," said Dube.
Source - Zim Mail
