MDC-N MP for Insiza South, Siyabonga Ncube, has warned the Welshman Ncube-led party leadership against forming a “kitchen cabinet”, saying his constituency would not brook imposition of leaders.
The MP made the remarks at a campaign rally in his constituency last Saturday. The rally was attended by party leader Ncube and other national executive members.
In local political parlance, the phrase “kitchen cabinet” has come to refer to a group of people in a political party handpicked by a leader to form a parallel structure that usurps the authority of legitimate committees.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T top party hierarchy has often been labelled as “kitchen cabinet” amid allegations most of them would have been handpicked by the party leader.
“Our leadership (constituency) won’t hesitate to resist a kitchen cabinet once formed. This is against our constitution and we are not MDC-T,” said Ncube.
“There is a lot of interference in our structures especially in security . . . people should be allowed to choose their leaders. We will resist that pressure whether it is from the president, secretary-general or anyone from top leadership.”
The MP added the party was now “full of people with masters’ degrees and PhDs”.
But, the party’s national organising secretary Qhubani Moyo yesterday dismissed allegations of imposition of leaders in the party’s structures.
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“That is not true as we have properly elected structures,” he said curtly. Ncube also revealed that former MDC president and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara had offered him the Cabinet post currently held by newly-elected party leader Welshman Ncube on condition the Insuza MP defected to the Mutambara camp.
“Mutambara invited me to his office and said ‘I have since fired Ncube from the party and you are taking over as Industry and Commerce minister’, but I told him that I did not join the party for posts and refused,” he said.
In 2009, Siyabonga Ncube was nominated by his party to be Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Senegal but dropped out of an intensive three-month course on diplomacy without clear reasons.
