Source: MDC-T postpones 18th anniversary – NewsDay Zimbabwe October 2, 2017
THE opposition MDC-T has postponed its 18th anniversary which was scheduled for Kwekwe this Saturday in order to enable party members to focus on the ongoing voter registration exercise, amid concerns that the party’s ailing leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was unfit to address the celebrations.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Tsvangirai was last month airlifted to South Africa for urgent medical attention, after his health took a plunge during an MDC Alliance meeting in Kadoma. He is battling with cancer of the colon and his doctors have recommended that he temporarily withdraws from his busy political schedules and take a bed rest.
According to an internal correspondence addressed to senior party officials, acting national organising secretary Amos Chibaya said new dates will be advised in due course.
“You are all hereby advised that the 18th anniversary scheduled for the 7th October 2017 at Mbizo Stadium, Kwekwe has been postponed,” Chibaya said.
“Please be further advised that you shall be informed of the new date on which this very important event shall be held. Meanwhile, you are all requested to encourage people to go and register to vote in their large numbers,” he added.
Party secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the development but denied reports that the decision was motivated by Tsvangirai’s ill-health.
“Yes, we have postponed it. We have directed our structures to mobilise on voter registration. Similarly, we have directed resources towards voter registration and as you know it is going to start in earnest in the second week of October and our reasoning is that let’s put precedence on voter registration,” he said.
Mwonzora said they will reschedule both the presidential dinner and the anniversary to later this year.
“This has nothing to do with the president’s absence. We have made an administrative decision that we needed to concentrate on voter registration especially to prepare our structures to mobilise,” he said.
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