Biti fired

biti and tsvangiraiPatrick Chitumba/Temba Dube Senior Reporters—
THE MDC-T has expelled its secretary-general Tendai Biti, deputy treasurer general Elton Mangoma, youth leader Solomon Madzore and other senior party officials with immediate effect for convening the “illegal” meeting at Mandel Training Centre in Harare on Saturday that suspended party leader Morgan Tsvangirai and five of his loyalists.

The party also called for an extraordinary congress in October as the circus in the beleaguered party continues.
Announcing the expulsion after the party’s national council and executive meetings held at the party’s headquarters, Harvest House, in Harare yesterday, Tsvangirai said the Mandel meeting was illegal and as such its resolutions had no bearing on the party and its leadership.

He said they had reached a number of resolutions that include replacing Biti with Tapiwa Mashakada, who now acts as the interim secretary-general pending the October congress.

The next MDC-T congress was scheduled for 2016 but infighting following the party’s electoral loss in last year’s polls has seen alliances and loyalties shifting as the push to oust Tsvangirai gathers momentum.

The latest developments follow weekend events that saw Biti and his lieutenants, who are pushing for leadership renewal, suspending Tsvangirai and his loyalists who include his deputy Thokozani Khupe, Nelson Chamisa and Douglas Mwonzora.

“Suspended” Tsvangirai and his group hit back yesterday with counter action on Biti and other members accusing them of attempting to stage a palace coup.

According to a statement detailing Tsvangirai’s national council resolutions, the Mandel meeting which suspended him was illegal and unconstitutional.

Biti was said to have formed his own party and ceased to be a member of the MDC-T.
“The national council acknowledged that Tendai Biti and others who attended the unconstitutional Mandel meeting have expelled themselves.
“The national council thanked them for the many years of service in the movement and wished them well in their new political endeavours,” reads part of the resolutions.

The statement said the Biti group’s Mandel meeting resolutions were not binding and were of no effect on the party and its party leadership.
It added that all MPs who participated in Tsvangirai’s alleged suspension meeting would be withdrawn from Parliament.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the members being withdrawn are: Hon Tendai Biti, Harare East, Hon Solomon Madzore, Dzivarasekwa, Hon Paul Madzore, Glen View South, Hon Moses Manyengavana, Highfield West, Hon Willas Madzimure, Kambuzuma, Hon Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, Lobengula, Hon Bekithemba Nyathi, Pelandaba-Mpopoma, Hon Evelyn Masaiti, Proportional Representation, Sen Watchy Sibanda, Matabeleland South, Hon Settlement Chikwinya, Mbizo, Hon Reggie Moyo, Luveve,” read part of the resolution.

Changes were made to the composition of the National Standing Committee with Mashakada now acting secretary-general, Theresa Makone, the acting deputy treasurer general and Costa Machingauta coming in as acting national youth chairperson.

The statement said Tsvangirai, Khupe, Chamisa, Mashakada, Makone, Mwonzora, Lovemore Moyo, Morgan Komichi and Abedinico Bhebhe had been tasked with taking all the necessary steps aimed at defending and protecting the party’s name and interests.

“In order to transform and revitalise the party, the council mandated the Standing Committee to kick-start the process of organisational and institutional reform leading to an early Congress in October 2014 instead of 2016. In the meantime, the Congress and internal democratic processes will commence soon,” said the party.

In an interview with Chronicle, Chamisa said their “properly constituted” national executive council had also endorsed Tsvangirai as the party’s president. “It is not Mr Tsvangirai who has expelled Biti and his team. It is the national council of the MDC-T. A duly and properly constituted national executive council meeting today (yesterday) to map the way forward unanimously voted for the expulsion of Biti from the party,” said Chamisa.

The interim chairperson of the MDC-T Renewal team, Dr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, said the decision by “Tsvangirai’s supporters” to expel him did not hold water. He said his camp was not leaving MDC-T as the party did not belong to an individual.

Dr Nkomo added that his camp had not formed another party, thereby nullifying the grounds on which they have been fired. “They can only fire their people and we are not their people. We have come to a stage whereby what the other camp does is inconsequential to us and what we do does not affect them. There can now be no reaching out to each other,” he said.

Dr Nkomo said his camp would hold meetings away from established party headquarters until it was legally decided who had the right to use the offices.

He fired a verbal salvo at Tsvangirai saying he would never rule the country. “I’m convinced there is no way Tsvangirai can win an election in Zimbabwe. I don’t believe God has given him that, otherwise he would have won in one of the numerous attempts that he has had.”

Meanwhile, our Harare Bureau reports that Tsvangirai has accused elites of attempting to hijack the MDC and Zanu-PF of fomenting divisions in his party.

The embattled MDC-T leader said: “What is happening is an attempt by the elites to capture a people’s movement.
“How come that we have professors of law trying to hijack the party without the mandate of the people? That is quite instructive. It is instructive to explain the ideological division between a mass movement of our nature and the attempt by the elites to come and hijack the people’s movement. It is the second time coming. What does it mean? It means that institutionally the structure of the party has to be re-examined. It has to be re-examined in terms of creating two power centres and sometimes abusing the party of some of us who are magnanimous.”

Tsvangirai accused Zanu-PF of fomenting the divisions afflicting his party. “Why is Zanu PF afraid that it will invest so much in our party and to divide our party? You know zvandakataura zviya kuti moyo chena wei mhou kumwisa mhuru isiri yayo? This is what is coming to pass. I know in 2005 (Professor) Welshman (Ncube) was a project and now it’s Tendai and Mangoma it has nothing to do with the people. The support and the solid support we enjoy in this country is unquestionable.”

Hundreds of party supporters gathered at Harvest House where they sang, danced and denounced.
Responding to the accusations, Zanu-PF secretary for information and publicity, Cde Rugare Gumbo said: “Our position as Zanu-PF has been abundantly made clear. The problems of incapacity to keep the party together in the MDC have nothing to do with us. The people in the opposition party have different ideological positions, the young individuals have different interests — the intellectuals have different interests — so it is a delicate party with a failed leadership.

“They do not have the experience and capacity to hold the party together particularly in such a complicated set up. The opposition party MDC is sponsored by foreigners and they are the ones engineering the problems that are within that party. They are saying Morgan Tsvangirai has failed to deliver and bring political or regime change in Zimbabwe, which is what brought them together, so they are now saying Morgan Tsvangirai must go.”

The MDC team renewal spokesperson, Jacob Mafume, yesterday dismissed the expulsion as null and void, insisting the position remained the same that  Tsvangirai and the other five senior officials remained suspended. “The position is this was a meeting that was attended by suspended individuals who had no locus standi to do that. The national council met on the 26th of April and deliberated on the issue and suspended the individuals and the process is still ongoing.

“Therefore they cannot purport to do what they have done . . . It’s null and void. There is no way they could form a quorum, all the chairpersons were not there, they attended our meeting, where did the delegates come from?”

He said the chairpersons for Manicaland, Masvingo, Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North, and Midlands North among other provinces did not send delegates.

During the Saturday meeting, it is claimed that about 138 delegates voted for the suspension of Tsvangirai and the five executives.
Spokesperson of Prof Ncube’s MDC formation,  Nhlanhla Dube, has since dismissed the MDC-T’s claims that the formation was involved in the squabbles affecting the party.

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