THE Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T party has suffered another knock in Manicaland province after one of its key members and Senator Patrick Chitaka crossed the floor to join the Renewal Team on Wednesday.
OBEY MANAYITI STAFF REPORTER Chitaka, who served as MDC-T acting provincial chairperson between 2007 and 2011, is credited for managing to win 20 House of Assembly and four Senate seats during his tenure.
Chitaka claimed the MDC-T had been hijacked by power-hungry activists and had lost its democratic compass.
“I don’t see any direction in the MDC-T,” Chitaka said.
“It’s no longer a democratic party and we were failing to deliver on what the people were expecting. There is still violence against members of the same party and that has never stopped. I can no longer associate myself with such a party,” he said.
He said following his immense contribution in the party, he found himself being treated like an outsider hence the decision to join the Renewal Team.
The MDC-T split for the second time this year following irreconcilable differences between Tsvangirai and a faction led by former deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma and secretary-general Tendai Biti.
Since then, several MPs have defected from the MDC-T and joined the MDC Renewal Team which has since joined hands with the Welshman Ncube-led MDC.
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MDC-T provincial spokesperson Trevor Saruwaka said the departure of Chitaka would not affect the party in any way.
“I don’t think the people of MDC-T in Manicaland will count his departure as a loss, but maybe it is a blessing in disguise in that it will allow the new executive to function smoothly without undue distraction from people with a separate agenda from ours,” Saruwaka said
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai has dispatched emissaries to Bulawayo councillors, who ditched the party to join MDC Renewal in a bid to woo them back to his MDC-T party.
NewsDay’s sister paper, Southern Eye, has it on good authority that several groups, some from Harare, have been dispatched to convince the councillors to rejoin the party.
“We have been getting calls from MDC-T people attempting to arrange meetings with us with a view of rejoining,” one councillor said on condition of anonymity. “They (MDC-T) are still struggling to come to terms with the simple fact that we are no longer with them.”
Six councillors dumped the MDC-T officially, although it is believed up to 14 are on their way out.
Bulawayo City Council has 29 councillors and the defection of the 14 leaves MDC-T with 15, finely balancing City Hall.
