Rift between Khupe and Tsvangirai is interminable

The rift between MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, and his Deputy President of eleven years, Thokozani Khupe is like a horizon which never ends.

Some sections of the media were awash with articles, claiming that the misunderstanding between Tsvangirai and Khupe had been resolved and the two had reconciled. Going through the newspapers, nowhere in those stories was mentioned anything to the effect that the duo had patched up their variances.

Khupe's Personal Assistant, Witness Dube revealed that the only subject that was discussed when the two met was that of the intra-party violence that occurred in Bulawayo, which saw the suspension of that party's Organizing Secretary, Abednico Bhebhe, and Deputy Treasurer General, Chalton Hwende, being lifted.

Dube was quoted in the press saying, "This amnesty was done outside the founding context of the violence which, therefore, leaves the other substantive issues that they raised in the letter to president Tsvangirai very much in the middle of the table…"

Dube's sentiments just show how insurmountable the rift between Tsvangirai and Khupe has become to the extent of hampering the continuity and smooth flow of that party's business. Persistent wrangles between the pair, together with Tsvangirai's deteriorating health, is a sure recipe for the eventual split of that party ahead of the 2018 harmonised elections.

Among other issues, Khupe and her allies are against MDC-Alliance, which was launched in Harare on 5 August, this year, which they boycotted. Following the launch of MDC Alliance, Tsvangirai reunited with his erstwhile counterparts who include People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader, Tendai Biti, and MDC leader, Prof Welshman Ncube.

Since the official launch of MDC Alliance, Khupe, Bhebhe and MDC-T Chairman, Lovemore Moyo, have not attended party meetings chaired by Tsvangirai, an indicator that all is not well in the supposed paradise.

The differences between Tsvangirai and Khupe are insoluble as long as Tsvangirai hold fast to his dictatorial tendencies and claiming they had ironed out their differences, is nothing but a charade intended to portray a united force, yet that party is burning.

Given that the MDC-T leader has not been well for quite some time, it is high time that he passed the baton stick to the next person. In fact, Tsvangirai should have considered paving way for Khupe to lead that opposition party; but he saw it necessary to increase the number of his vice presidents to three, a move which worsened the festering fissures in that party.

In other words, Tsvangirai can best be described as a dictator, who refuses to take other people's views and perspectives. This could also be a contributing factor that led to his fall out with Khupe.  

The appointment of Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri to the positions of Deputy President is a proof enough to Tsvangirai's dictatorship, and chauvinistic attitude. In the eyes of some, the appointment of the two was intended to clip Khupe's wings with accusations that her faction was angling to succeed Tsvangirai.

MDC- T will never move forward until Tsvangirai ditches his dictatorial tendencies which to date has been the party's Achilles heel.