IT is all over in the media that MDC-T acting leader Thokozani Khupe expelled MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa from the MDC-T party.
By Kennedy Kaitano, Our Reader
Very interesting indeed, as your action shows you have not properly read and understood the contents of the Supreme Court judgment, in the MDC vs Elias Mashavira and Others (SC56/2020) of March 31, 2020, which requires the MDC-T to “go back and start from February 15, 2018”.
You correctly note that the Supreme Court ruled that Chamisa was no longer Movement for Democratic Change leader, and I do not think Chamisa has, in any way, masqueraded as president of the MDC.
Let me remind you from the onset that the same judgment did not make any reference to the MDC Alliance. That judgment never said the MDC Alliance should stop functioning.
The judgment only mandates you to lead the process for the holding of an extraordinary meeting by June 29, failure which the national chairman as at the time of the demise of the late Morgan Tsvangirai, former Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo, if he is interested or his deputy then, Morgen Komichi, in the event that Moyo is not interested as seems to be the case, will have 30 days to implement the judgment, failure which it becomes water under the bridge.
Now, mark this point Khupe, what will happen if the extraordinary congress does not materialise in the given time frame?
The answer which is written all over the Supreme Court judgment, which have to be very analytic to understand, is that your MDC-T, which held its congress in 2018 and the MDC Alliance led by Chamisa, can choose to continue as they currently are.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Do you think the Supreme Court wanted those two parties to collapse in the event that the Supreme Court judgment is not implemented within the stipulated time? That surely is not the case.
If a re-union of husband and wife who had been living apart for two years fails to take place, the parties in the broken marriage are legally allowed to resume with the life that they had lived in those two years.
This means, therefore, that you cannot stop Chamisa from doing what he needs to do with his MDC Alliance. A lot of harm can happen to a voluntary organisation if the leadership takes a snooze and the same will happen to the party that you lead.
What both you and Chamisa should have done is go back to your MDC-T which had its congress in 2018 and talk to your colleagues in those respective institutions and say, “what do we do in the next 120 days in the event that the extraordinary congress suggested by the Supreme Court succeeds, what do we do if the extraordinary congress does not succeed?” That is what is called strategic planning, and that is fully permissible.
If you haven’t done that, it’s not too late to go and talk to MDC-T 2019 congress secretary-general Nixon Nyikadzino, who you seem to be at war with and get your differences ironed out.
Make peace while there is still time. The expulsion of Chamisa from the February 14, 2018 MDC-T is, therefore, null and void.
I hope that you, Khupe, will reflect on this free piece of advice as June 29 2020 draws closer, bearing in mind that there should be no extension of the deadline to hold the extraordinary congress.
