Uncertainty clouds MDC-A congress

By The NewsDay | Jun. 2, 2022 | 2 Min read

Mwonzora told journalists at a Press conference in the capital last month that he would announce the congress dates the following day, but has been mum sincethen.

BY KENNETH NYANGANI UNCERTAINTY has clouded the MDC Alliance congress scheduled for next month, with party president Douglas Mwonzora reportedly dithering on the dates.

Mwonzora told journalists at a Press conference in the capital last month that he would announce the congress dates the following day, but has been mum since then.

Sources within the party yesterday told NewsDay that Mwonzora is quiet about the congress fearing a strong challenge from chairman Morgen Komichi, vice-president Elias Mudzuri and member Norest Marara.

The party’s standing committee reportedly proposed July 2 for the congress, but Mwonzora refused to give the nod.

Mwonzora is also being accused of replacing finance director Todd Mapiringe with his close friend Robert Mandeya, a move that has raised eyebrows in the party.

“Mwonzora said there will not be any nominations before the congress. He fears that if there is going to be a nomination exercise, he might even fail to get a single nomination,” a party source revealed.

“There is a push within the party that Mwonzora must be contested at congress, but he is influencing party youths to insult other potential candidates on social media platforms.”

The source also said after Mwonzora’s electoral loss during the March 26 by-elections, some party members wanted to remove him from the presidency.

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“We believe Mwonzora is now after money, because politically he is down. We are surprised that after our standing committee meeting we proposed the July 2 date, but he flatly refused for no apparent reason. He also shot down the July 23-24 date. Mwonzora is using his position to override some decisions which he believes do not benefit him,” the source said.

MDC-A spokesperson Witness Dube, however, quashed the allegations, describing them as malicious.

“As you are aware people will say anything and those are malicious allegations. We are going to announce the congress date very soon. Today (yesterday) we are hosting a standing committee meeting where we are going to deliberate on various issues, including the election dates,” Dube said.