Tsvangirai postpones MDC-T conference

MDC-T has had to postpone its "stakeholder conference" which it claims is meant to address challenges facing the economy after donors tightened their purse strings and refused to provide funding for the meeting.

Last month, MDC-T said it would organise the conference and another one to meet with its founding members.

Both meetings have been shelved because of the lack of funding.

MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora confirmed that the conference would no longer be held this year although he tried to downplay the situation.

"According to the original plan, the conference was scheduled to be held between end of this year and the beginning of the year 2014, so it is still within the planned time frame.

"We're still waiting for information from the committee that is organising the conference," said Mr Douglas Mwonzora.

Another meeting planned by the beleaguered MDC-T to meet with its founding members flopped after some of its allies - that include the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) - broke off their alliance with the party.

The NCA has transformed itself into a political party while Zinasu has slammed MDC-T for abusing its membership.

However, Mr Mwonzora said they would not force people to attend their conference.

"The meeting is going to be a voluntary issue and we're not going to force anyone.

"We are interested in those who still share the party's spirit," he added.