News / National
'Chamisa, Mwonzora must unite first'
15 Apr 2021 at 20:01hrs | Views
FORMER Cabinet minister and senior opposition official Samuel Sipepa Nkomo has urged the warring MDC factions led by Douglas Mwonzora and Nelson Chamisa to settle their differences first before engaging President Emmerson Mnangagwa in national dialogue.
This comes at a time when there have been renewed calls by long-suffering Zimbabweans and the Church for the opposition to engage in talks with Mnangagwa and the ruling party to end Zimbabwe's economic and political woes.
It also comes at a time when Mwonzora and Chamisa have both warmed up to the idea of engaging Mnangagwa.
However, Mnangagwa has maintained the stance that any engagements will have to be conducted under the auspices of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), a notion Chamisa has scoffed at.
At the same times, Mwonzora and Chamisa are embroiled in a vicious battle to control the MDC with the former being recognised as the bonafide leader of the country's biggest opposition party.
Nkomo, a former MDC stalwart, who was once in the party's advisory council during the late leader Morgan Tsvangirai's tenure, said failure to engage in talks between the two warring factions would only spell doom for them come the 2023 watershed elections.
"The politics in the MDC led by Chamisa and the one by Mwonzora are currently an unfortunate spectacle.
"The MDC we used to know which at our time had more MPs than Zanu-PF, is no more. I believe in the current situation they (MDCs) cannot even achieve a third of that in any election," Nkomo told Daily News yesterday.
"I do not believe that in 2023, the MDCs have got a chance. Pride, ego and just wanting to be there, will not help the MDC.
"The leaders, some of them, are behaving like a cult. It's about me, myself and I and not about the people of Zimbabwe who have suffered for long," he added.
Nkomo said while dialogue was the way to go, it was wrong for Chamisa and Mwonzora to engage Mnangagwa before resolving their differences.
"Both MDCs I don't know what miracle can happen to lock down the two in one room and go away with the keys and tell them to resolve their issues.
"They want talks with Mnangagwa, they are wrong. Leave Mnangagwa alone, what they want are talks with themselves first," he added.
The former Lobengula legislator said unless unity in the two MDCs is achieved, there will be no formidable opponent to challenge a rejuvenated Zanu-PF in polls.
This comes at a time when there have been renewed calls by long-suffering Zimbabweans and the Church for the opposition to engage in talks with Mnangagwa and the ruling party to end Zimbabwe's economic and political woes.
It also comes at a time when Mwonzora and Chamisa have both warmed up to the idea of engaging Mnangagwa.
However, Mnangagwa has maintained the stance that any engagements will have to be conducted under the auspices of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), a notion Chamisa has scoffed at.
At the same times, Mwonzora and Chamisa are embroiled in a vicious battle to control the MDC with the former being recognised as the bonafide leader of the country's biggest opposition party.
Nkomo, a former MDC stalwart, who was once in the party's advisory council during the late leader Morgan Tsvangirai's tenure, said failure to engage in talks between the two warring factions would only spell doom for them come the 2023 watershed elections.
"The politics in the MDC led by Chamisa and the one by Mwonzora are currently an unfortunate spectacle.
"I do not believe that in 2023, the MDCs have got a chance. Pride, ego and just wanting to be there, will not help the MDC.
"The leaders, some of them, are behaving like a cult. It's about me, myself and I and not about the people of Zimbabwe who have suffered for long," he added.
Nkomo said while dialogue was the way to go, it was wrong for Chamisa and Mwonzora to engage Mnangagwa before resolving their differences.
"Both MDCs I don't know what miracle can happen to lock down the two in one room and go away with the keys and tell them to resolve their issues.
"They want talks with Mnangagwa, they are wrong. Leave Mnangagwa alone, what they want are talks with themselves first," he added.
The former Lobengula legislator said unless unity in the two MDCs is achieved, there will be no formidable opponent to challenge a rejuvenated Zanu-PF in polls.
Source - dailynews
