 |
| Douglas Mwonzora |
…accuses duo of trying to rig way to
power
…nominates Mudzuri for president
Upenyu
Chaota
The Thokozani Khupe led MDC-T Masvingo
province has nominated Elias Mudzuri as their presidential candidate for the forthcoming
extraordinary congress slatted for December despite there being an internal
memorandum to all provinces from secretary general Douglas Mwonzora stopping
all nomination processes.
The shelving of nomination processes by
Mwonzora has drawn scorn from the MDC-T extraordinary congress delegates and
members of the National Council of Masvingo province who view the move as the
biggest betrayal to the democratic principles and values of the party.
At a press conference held last weekend
at the party’s provincial headquarters in Rhodene, MDC-T delegates led by de
facto chairperson Festus Dumbu said that they would want to be given a chance
to choose their own candidate and not be dictated upon by either Mwonzora or
Khupe.
The resolutions had initially affirmed
support for Mudzuri before being edited to leave out the name of their preferred
presidential candidate. Dumbu, however, told TellZim News that they had a
candidate whom they wanted and no one will rob them of a chance at nomination.
“We have our own candidate whom we
would like to nominate once given a chance. We will not put the name in our
resolutions at the moment but we do not want people who go against the National
Council resolutions.
“The nomination process is not in the
constitution but it is a decision which was made by the National Council
thereby making it a policy which must be followed. No one individual has the
power of going against the National Council resolution be it Mwonzora or
Khupe,” said Dumbu.
The Dumbu-led team said it had full
rights to participate in the nomination process to choose the late Tsvangirai’s
successor as a province and would not be bullied by power-hungry fraudsters.
“We call upon all members of the MDC
to peacefully and vigilantly act now to
save our revolution from the jaws of power-hungry fraudsters threatening to
derail our movement by rigging their way to power.
“We owe this not only to ourselves but
to our children, the country and indeed to the undying spirit of Tsvangirai.
“We reject the planned abuse of the
online National Council nomination process aimed at ensuring that certain
members of the Standing Committee fraudulently put themselves into positions
they prefer, ahead of other deserving cadres.
“We are shocked that the Standing Committee
thereafter resolved to abandon the traditional practice of nominating
candidates by provincial councils in favour of an opaque virtual process by the
National Council whose composition is not known and whose sole purpose is to
advance the interests of some candidates.
“Masvingo has learnt of this intended
unconstitutional crude plan to convene a National Council for the purpose of
selecting only two persons who will then be allowed to contest at the
forthcoming Extraordinary Congress for the position of president of the MDC T
Party,” reads the resolution document.
Masvingo has raised concerns over the
flawed Bulawayo nomination process saying they were done without following
proper procedure.
“The Bulawayo nomination process of
November 8, 2020 was grossly flawed and chaotic. It was held before the
establishment of an Electoral College and a properly mandated Independent
Electoral Management Board (IEMB) approved by both the National Executive and
National Council as required and mandated by the resolutions passed by those
structures in the last meetings held by them.
“Masvingo province will always be
committed to democracy and constitutionalism and to ensuring the extraordinary
congress processes are transparent, free, fair and credible.
“The Bulawayo provincial nominations
should therefore be declared null and void. The MDC extraordinary congress
becomes a great opportunity to show the whole world that we are a movement
ready to manage all the internal and national democratic processes which will usher
real change as desired by the people of Zimbabwe,” reads the resolution
document.
