Zimpapers Logo

Nduduzo Tshuma, Political Editor
MDC ALLIANCE leader Mr Nelson Chamisa on Monday laid bare his dictatorial traits as he read the riot act to the party’s Bulawayo structures to the point of threatening to shut them out of the party’s congress scheduled for next month.

Bulawayo province, insiders say, has provided Mr Chamisa a headache on many fronts, the most prominent of them being the recent defeat at the hands of Zanu-PF at the Cowdray Park Ward 28 by-election.

In a rant during a crisis meeting between Mr Chamisa and members of the Bulawayo provincial executive on Monday, he reportedly said that the loss to Zanu-PF was “treasonous” accusing the structure of lacking order.

Mr Chamisa also labelled Bulawayo province as the most violent structure in the party, a label received by members with both shock and a sense of irony after a number of violent incidents in the party including the savage attacks on Dr Thokozani Khupe last year were all traced back to the office of the opposition leader.

Again violence, a main feature in the opposition party’s political interaction, has reared its ugly head in the run up to the MDC Alliance congress.

At the beginning of the month, party supporters linked to Mr Chamisa reportedly unleashed an orgy of violence targeting secretary general, Mr Douglas Mwonzora’s supporters.

Mr Mwonzora is set to challenge Mr Chamisa for the party presidency at the MDC Alliance congress while Engineer Elias Mudzuri is a dark horse.

The running battles between the two groups in Chitungwiza resulted in former deputy mayor Jabulani Mtunzi and other party activists sustaining varying degrees of injury.

However, it is the threat of excluding Bulawayo from the party’s congress that brings out or rather reaffirms Mr Chamisa’s dictatorial nature.

In the Monday meeting, Mr Chamisa is said to have told the provincial party leaders of the futility in seeking relief in the courts after he decrees the exclusion of Bulawayo from the congress as his word is final.

In the so-called Movement for Democratic Change, it is Mr Chamisa’s word and not the party’s constitution that matters and in the event that some members are not happy with his decisions, the courts cannot help because the only institution recognised and has absolute power is the person of Mr Nelson Chamisa.

It is clear therefore that Mr Chamisa does not represent the principles that he purports to champion but is a dictatorial leader who has personalised the MDC Alliance where his word is now the law.

Mr Chamisa is also battling an internal revolt in the province with a faction reportedly bitterly opposed to Professor Welshman Ncube’s vice presidency or any leadership position in the party.

In the Monday meeting, Mr Chamisa reportedly told the meeting that Prof Ncube is the most senior leader in the region and should be respected.

Prof Ncube, insiders say, faces resistance from a faction linked to party chairperson, Ms Thabitha Khumalo, which has openly defied him on a number of issues including the election of Ward 3 Councillor Tinashe Kambarami and the fielding of Mr Collet Ndlovu in the recent Cowdray Park by election.

However, on both instances the faction linked to Ms Khumalo prevailed over Prof Ncube much to the chagrin of Mr Chamisa as expressed in his Monday rant.

Mr Chamisa’s defence of Prof Ncube comes at a time the party is going for a congress where the MDC leader is facing a possible challenge from Mr Mwonzora while vice president Engineer Mudzuri is a dark horse.

Prof Ncube is on record in an interview with this paper that contesting Mr Chamisa for the party’s presidency would be a “political miscalculation.”

“At this particular historical juncture to me, it appears unwise for anyone if they are nominated to accept that nomination given the credentials I’ve already summarised for you, for the incumbent Nelson Chamisa. Anyone who accepts nomination will probably be guilty of a serious political miscalculation, given where we are,” said Prof Ncube.

“We are all individuals, using all the objective criteria that I have in mind, I really have a difficulty in finding any rationale for anyone to accept any nomination. I will be surprised if anyone other than Chamisa is nominated given the momentum that we have had with him, given the inspirational advantage that he has.”

It is common cause therefore that the defence of Prof Ncube by Mr Chamisa is largely for purposes of self preservation by the MDC Alliance leader in the face of a revolt.

Mr Chamisa has also threatened to purged party structures to smoke out members opposed to him on the pretext of “dealing” with elements responsible for the party’s loss in Cowdray Park.

Posting on his Twitter account after the party’s loss to Zanu-PF, he alleged that there was an “invisible hand” that contributed to their poor show saying that the so called hand had since been discovered and would soon be “cut off.”

After being rejected in the 2018 elections, Mr Chamisa has turned his Chamisa Chete Chete mantra within his party, meaning that he and no one else is the “heart and soul” of the MDC Alliance.