BY BLESSED MHLANGA
THE alleged tussle for power between opposition leader Nelson Chamisa and former secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora is nothing but a staged-managed sideshow to destabilise the MDC, the party has said.
Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda said there were outsiders who wanted to manufacture an image of a troubled party leadership ahead of the anticipated Supreme Court ruling on the party leadership wrangle between Chamisa and MDC -T leader Thokozani Khupe.
“The factions in MDC are only things we read in newspapers, why would we fight ourselves at our own national executive council (Nec) meeting at our own party headquarters?” Sibanda said.
“We know this is being done by people who are training themselves ahead of the Supreme Court ruling to paint an image that Thokozani Khupe has support in the MDC and if she is declared leader she has support. This is because the court asked if this matter was not moot. The idea is to try and pressure the courts to a ruling of their choice.”
Chamisa’s spokesperson said it was impossible for Mwonzora to even mount a faction against his boss.
“This false equivalency where you want to put president Chamisa on the other hand and senator Mwonzora as leading two factions in the MDC simply does not work. If you ask senator Mwonzora he will tell you, he can’t challenge president Chamisa,” Sibanda said.
Insiders have accused Mwonzora as backing Khupe against Chamisa and could have opened the back door to protestors who hijacked the Nec meeting with placards but were quickly subdued by alert security amid allegations of violent clashes, which MDC has denied.
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“There were no violent clashes. Someone tells you about violence and nobody has a picture, no evidence of that clash happening, nothing and you believe them, this is 2019,” Sibanda said.
Chamisa is reported to have come to the defence of Mwonzora after members of the MDC youth assembly, unhappy over the demonstrations at the party headquarters, bayed for his head.
“If you want to fault president Chamisa, his only fault is that he is a democrat. He allows people to be heard even when they don’t deserve it. He protected the people who wanted to attack us in our own meeting,” Sibanda said.
“He said nobody should beat up anyone even though we were under attack, he went further to deploy his own security to senator Mwonzora to protect him and said this man should not be touched. He is for peace and democracy.”
Despite the protection coming from Chamisa, insiders are pushing for the ouster of Mwonzora who is accused of offering clandestine support to Khupe in her bid to annul the congress which elected Chamisa.
An attempt to charge him after he travelled to Sweden with a parliamentary team lead by National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda, hit a brickwall after the charges failed to find traction.
Mwonzora has refused to comment on the unfolding saga referring all the questions to the party as he keeps his cards close to the chest.
