/ 20 September 2013

Vote defiance reveals the cracks in MDC

Vote Defiance Reveals The Cracks In Mdc

Morgan Tsvangirai is battling to hold together a deeply fractious and financially troubled party.

Divisions in the Movement for ­Democratic Change (MDC) manifested this week, after the party's councillors defied a directive from the leader to elect his preferred mayoral ­candidates

. The financially troubled party has also started the process of retrenching at least a third of its ­permanent staff.

Sources close to developments say the party has resolved that it will downsize its permanent staff to 94 from the current 151.

The party's secretary general Tendai Biti on Thursday denied the lay offs but another senior party source said some staff had already been offered the option of retrenchment and a number had already volunteered to be let go.

The insider said that, so far, the process was voluntary, and individuals were negotiating their own exit packages.

Battling financial obligations
The party is battling to reduce its financial obligations as its donors are not as forthcoming as they used to be due to internal divisions and the ­party's poor showing over the years.

So divided is the party, this week its own councillors, who won on MDC tickets, preferred to elect Zanu-PF mayors in defiance of Tsvangirai, who had tried to whip them into voting for certain individuals.

The MDC now says it is investigating the matter with a view to expelling the councillor who embarrassed the party.

The Mail & Guardian recently reported on tension in the party arising out of its electoral defeat.

Senior party officials have allegedly been plotting a rebellion against Tsvangirai following the defeat, and insiders this week said the rejection of Tsvangirai's preferred mayoral candidates was orchestrated from the inside to send him a message that he was no longer in control of the party.

"We are basically saying enough is enough. We will not tolerate dictatorial tendencies in the party and this is a reminder to Tsvangirai and his peers that they should not take people for granted. We lost the ­elections because of the imposition of candidates, but sadly, some people are refusing to learn from that experience," said a councilor for the town of Redcliff.

Zanu-PF wins mayoral election
In Redcliff, Zanu-PF's Freddy Kapuya won the mayoral election, despite Zanu-PF having only two of the seven local government seats in the town.

Kapuya polled five votes, whereas the MDC-T's Takura Chikwira got four, meaning that at least three MDC-T councillors voted for Zanu-PF.

In neighbouring Kwekwe, where Zanu-PF and MDC-T had seven seats each, Zanu PF candidate Matenda Madzoke took the position after securing nine votes against the MDC-T's Aaron Gwalamba, who secured five votes, meaning that two MDC councillors voted for Zanu-PF.

Another shock came in the tourist town Victoria Falls, where Zanu-PF won only three wards out of 10 elections.

Shockingly, Zanu-PF candidate Sifiso Mpofu won the mayoral election after getting six votes compared with the MDC-T's Margaret Valley, who had four, meaning at least three MDC councillors voted Mpofu into office.

In Gweru, councillors also defied Tsvangirai's directive to elect trade unionist Charles Chikozho as mayor, choosing instead to elect Hamutendi Kombayi. Kombayi, the son of a prominent businessman and Gweru's first black mayor, the late Patrick Kombayi, was the popular choice in Gweru. Hamutendi beat Chikozho by 12 votes to six.

MDC beaten
In Mutare, Zanu-PF only has six councillors compared with the MDC-T's 13, but Colleen Mukwada of Zanu-PF still beat Kudakwashe Chisango of MDC-T by 10 votes to nine to clinch the deputy mayoral post.

Assuming all Zanu-PF councillors voted for their own, this translates to a minimum of four MDC councillors voting for Zanu-PF.

The MDC-T's preferred candidate for the Mutare mayoral position, Thomas Nyamupanedengu, was beaten by Tatenda Nhemaware by 10 votes to nine in yet another act of defiance.

The MDC-T's preferred candidates for the Harare and Bulawayo mayoral posts, Obert Gutu and Mandla Nyathi, dropped out of the race after the government insisted that mayors could be chosen only from elected councillors, resulting in Bernard Manyenyeni securing the Harare mayoral post and Martin Moyo being elected in Bulawayo.

By as late as last Sunday, party spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora was insisting that Gutu and Nyathi were the party's chosen candidates for the positions, despite protests from some councillors who were against the imposition of candidates.

Mwonzora said his party had launched an investigation and would not hesitate to recall councillors who defied it.

Lacking discipline
However, he said they had not rebelled against the leadership, although some of them may have lacked discipline whereas others were allegedly threatened or bribed.

"We are still investigating what happened, but of course, if people go against the caucus of the party, it's extreme indiscipline. The investigations are serious and we are eager to get to the bottom of this matter, bearing in mind that the new Constitution allows a party to recall a councillor who was sponsored by the party.

"We are interested especially in Redcliff, Kwekwe, Victoria Falls and Mutare, where our councillors voted for Zanu-PF. In areas like Gweru, the situation is different because they voted for an MDC member, although not the person chosen during the ­party's caucus."

Sources in the party said that very senior MDC-T officials, who were against Tsvangirai's leadership and the imposition of candidates, had mobilised the councillors to vote for candidates of their choice.

Cracks in the MDC-T leadership widened after the elections, as party officials pointed fingers at each other over the defeat.

Tsvangirai has held a series of standing committee and national executive meetings with his officials to smooth out their differences, but some officials believe he should leave, having failed to unseat Mugabe in 2002, 2008 and 2013.

Tsvangirai should go
Treasurer general Roy Bennett has publicly stated that Tsvangirai should go, and some officials are pushing the agenda underground as they prepare to mount a challenge at the party's congress in 2016.

Tsvangirai this week said he would not leave, and challenged those who want him to go to follow democratic processes.

Gutu, who was the party's first choice for the Harare mayoral post, this week labelled those wanting to remove Tsvangirai as "fake democrats" on his Facebook page.

"These fake democrats are wolves in sheep's skin. Publicly, they lampoon and lambast how July 31 was stolen, but we know that deep down in their hearts, they never wanted Morgan to get to State House."