Chamisa must step down, says MDC

THE Welshman Ncube-led MDC's Matabeleland North leadership has called on MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa to step down for allegedly disrespecting alliance partners and grabbing their seats.

Provincial chairman Leonard Mhlanga yesterday claimed that the MDC-T grabbed all House of Assembly, Senate and proportional representation (PR) seats set aside for other partners ahead of the nomination court sitting last week.

"I question why president Chamisa is failing to honour the agreement before he even runs this country. I am saying we now have an alliance which is operating according to what MDC-T wants. If Chamisa is failing to put his house in order, it calls for him to go back to MDC-T and leave the alliance as he is destroying the project."

Mhlanga, who is the former Esigodini Rural District Council chairman and Umguza RDC chairman said MDC-T wanted to use his party, but was failing to run the alliance by allowing some members to use tribal divisions which rocked this country during the Gukurahundi period.

Mhlanga said MDC-T backtracked on their agreement on seats allocation.

"Under the alliance agreement, we were given four constituencies − Lupane East, Lupane West, Tsholotsho South and Tsholotsho North. A day before the nomination court, a team composed of MDC-T officials came to Lupane armed with names to take our constituencies (MP and councillors). They were signed in as legitimate which is against the agreement. This was done against the alliance agreement," he said.

"On April 29, we were called to Hwange provincial alliance meeting where Joel Gabbuza told us that they would contest for all parliamentary and council seats regardless of alliance agreement. On May 10, they informed us at a meeting that Amos Chibaya was directed to field candidates around the country and talks to work together (in Lupane East) collapsed as MDC-T wanted Dalumizi (Khumalo) while we had Maxwell Mthunzana."

Mhlanga said that was when he knew that MDC-T was insincere.

"We were not allocated senatorial and PR seats as MDC. We are worried by the way some partners in the alliance are doing their business. I will not keep quite because I am leading members of my party MDC," he said.

MDC-T Matabeleland North spokesperson Themba Mnkombwe said MDC has Mxolisi Sibanda in Lupane West, Clement Khumalo in Tsholotsho North, Innocent Zenzo Nkomo in Tsholotsho South, but the Lupane East seat was taken by MDC-T's Dalumuzi Khumalo.

MDC-T acting national chairperson Morgen Komichi said in Matabeleland North, the MDC-T fielded candidates in the two Tsholotsho constituencies (North and South) as well as Lupane West.

"It was only in Lupane East where we had to have a dialogue with our colleagues in the MDC. As MDC-T, we felt we had a stronger candidate and after the dialogue we agreed that the candidate from the MDC who had been seconded to represent Lupane East be given the first position of the provincial council in return after we took the seat. We did not grab the seat, it was only after dialogue that we had to have this arrangement. We want the best foot foward because at the end of the day the alliance must win," he said.