via MDC-T suspends Mangoma for plotting against Tsvangirai | SW Radio Africa by Tichaona Sibanda on Friday, March 7, 2014
The deputy treasurer-general of the MDC-T, Elton Mangoma, was on Friday suspended by the party for ‘provoking divisions and bringing the movement into disrepute’. He will now face a disciplinary tribunal to be set up next week.
This is the first time since the formation of the MDC that a member of the standing committee has been suspended. But Mangoma’s suspension might ignite the slow-burning crisis in the MDC-T as other members are agitating for a split.
At the heart of complaints from Mangoma’s camp is the alleged authoritarianism within the party, that has seen party leader Morgan Tsvangirai refusing to step down.
Following a meeting of the party’s National Council at Harvest House, Mangoma faced a backlash from visibly angry members drawn from across the country. Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said a motion to suspend Mangoma was unanimously agreed by all the 12 provinces, including the women and youth leagues.
Mangoma attended the national council meeting, the first by the decision making body of the party this year. He was asked to excuse himself when members were told to deliberate and vote on his fate.
There were attempts by Mangoma’s lawyer to seek an injunction to stop any discussion on Mangoma’s fate at the meeting. It appears the move failed. This time there was no violence as police kept a close eye on events outside the party headquarters.
There was however a demonstration believed to have been organized by members from Mangoma’s camp. The demonstrators called on the party to respect the constitution and to stop the violence. Other placards were critical of the organizing secretary Nelson Chamisa, seen as a major stumbling block in all efforts by the other faction in their attempts to oust Tsvangirai.
Despite earlier assumptions by the Mangoma camp that Tsvangirai would not garner enough votes to take action against the former MP, it must have come as a surprise to realize there were no dissenting voices during the vote.
Mwonzora told SW Radio Africa that Mangoma will face four charges during his disciplinary hearing. The tribunal will be made up of three independent lawyers, one of which should be a qualified judge of the High court.
The four charges slapped on Mangoma are; undermining and bringing the party into disrepute, organizing factional meetings, disrespecting party organs, especially members of the standing committee, national executive and national council, and undermining the relationship between the MDC and its strategic partners.
‘Mangoma is now automatically suspended as deputy treasurer-general, pending an appearance before an independent tribunal. The party will meet next week to decide on the names of the team that will look into Mangoma’s case,’ Mwonzora said.
Journalist and analyst Itai Dzamara said he did not see Mangoma surviving Friday’s meeting as his attacks on Tsvangirai and the party ‘have been going on for some time and had reached intolerable levels of disrespect.’
‘There are three scenarios I see happening from this outcome. It’s either Mangoma will go through the disciplinary hearing or he’ll fight back and use the court to block any attempts to fire him. Lastly and which is his last option, he’ll walk out and form another party with some of his colleagues involved in the plot,’ Dzamara said.
COMMENTS
Mangoma has the money to oppose as he and his girlfriend stole millions from zesa
apolitical this for you If you are the big tree
We are the small axe
Ready to cut you down
To cut you down
And which girlfriend is that?
Tichaona Sibanda, were you not invited to the Biti media conference soon after the purported suspension, at his chambers?
If you did, what was his response to the perceived suspension?
Absolute dedication to a mutually understood philosophy is what binds successful groups. MDC political players never found this belief which provides unbreakable unity…hence the splits which continue to fragment and decimate it.
Mangoma is hardly an icon. The real problem is Tsvangirai. As long as he sits like a big fat useless toad at the centre if the MDC opposition politics is always going to fail. He is not able to do anything useful himself, but his divisors presence stops anybody else. He is the very epitome of the failed politics of personality
If only Mangoma,Biti ,Mudzuri and other unknown plotters had respected the constitution of the party, Mangoma would not be in this position. MDC congress is in 2016 and they want to fast track it to yesterday. Tsvangirai will be the last man standing. Biti can never be the president of Zimbabwe because he is arrogant and thinks he is the best in the party. Morgan is the man, vamwe varikudya because of his popularity. Biti must form his party and leave the people’s president alone.
Do you know what democracy is? It is the right of any member of a democratic institution to work within that organisation for leadership change if that is what he feels is best for the organisation and its future. What is apparent is that Tsvangirai allowed himself to be completely out manouvered by Mugabe and ZANU PF long before they manipulated the elections. He even failed to take advice from some of the SADC leaders as to how to proceed. He is a failed politician.
Mangoma and Biti have seriously mistimed their move and are certainly destined to political oblivion. By leaving the MDC the best they can achieve is a splinter group with no future to talk about. Biti do no forget that you just a nonentity politically outside the MDC and you were propelled by Tsvangirai to be where you are today.People are desperate for change so a new Party will have very few takers. People will just view you as power hungry idiot and a Zanu Pf puppet.
They always say that the problem with leading is, you will never know whether the people behind are following or chasing. Rest assured Morgan we are following.
“Inde lendlela esiyihambayo, washo uMorgan kubalandeli bakhe wathi sodibana ngefreedom day”. I find these borrowed lyrics befiting our situation in the democratic movement.
Every father has a way of leading his family. MDC did the same. All parties are susciptible t splits. Zanu Pf did split over 8 times, ANC over 10 times etc. So, splits can happen But the core is binding
End of the MDC-T. Another MDC in the making. Can be MDC-BiMango, or MDC-MangoBi, or MDC anti-Tsvangirai.
Interesting.
Or MDC-BiNgo
Taurai tizwe vanhu vaana mangoma.we are going to flash them athe Congress.dont play wth Morgans team . Let them form their Party its democracy.they are afraid of leaving the party.they want to work within our structures we are watching them.Mangoma is history nw whether he uses any means fight back he must win the heart of the grassroots. For the others its just 2yrs left and they wl follow suit.we are going to flush them like shi…..t cme 2016:
Thank you Zindoga!
Well, at least he is unlikely to die in a mysterious fire for daring to defy the cheering crowds to say the emperor has no clothes.
Who is Mangoma? To be an MDCT supporter I was fascinated by Tsvangirayi’s leadership full stop
Being a technocrat does not necessarily mean that you can be a leader.Technocrats are fortunate people to have gone through a certain syllabus. Leaders are naturally born- VaMugabe, VaTsvangirai
the mangomas bitis and mudzuris must leave MDC peacefully and we looking forward to forget them.tsvangirai is the godfather of MDC
Many of the comments on this page are misguided rubbish and show a complete misunderstanding of meaning of democracy and tolerance of freedom of speech. Given this kind of ignorance, no wonder Zimbabwe is a mess.
To all those supporters of Tsvangirai’s failure, you deserve him. Mangoma is an honourable man who simply expressed an honest opinion. The reaction from Tsvangirai has been verging on desperate. The violence metered out to Mangoma has exposed the zanu tendencies in Tsvangirai. This cannot ever be tolerated democrats.
It’s early days but I suspect that in the course of the next few weeks, Tsvangirai will harvest what he has sown. In a nut shell, he’s finished.
You are the one who is spewing rubbish. Tsvangirai is The Man and will be for a long time to come. You join Mangoma when he forms his party.
@GUTU people like you make zanu jump for joy
The coming weeks and months will be telling. What Mangoma’s group have done is a bit
similar to Tsvangirai taking on Mugabe in an election.
You have to know the cards will be stacked against you, so you have to have a very good plan of your own and a counter-plan to deal with your opponent. Let us see if this group is any smarter in their planning and execution than Tsvangirai has been against the Zanu military/CIO complex.
Mangoma naBiti vaora.
‘Vamwe vari kudya because of his popularity’, that statement by Gutu just indicates to you whats wrong with our politics, thats why we say MDC has been Zanufied. They are in it for themselves. there is no sense of patriotism and serving the people. Zanu definitely did a good job training these chaps.
Nzou ,my compatriot , you are right , it beggars beyond belief that some people cannot see through the corruption and shenanigan of both Zanu AND Mdc, and the failed leadership in both parties , . Of cause unless you are receiving the booty. But people ,please wake up.
Like I have said before ,we need a new kind of politics, not this 15th century rubbish which is suicidal. Or shall I say genocidal.
Elton miserably tries to play a victim image. Its true that Tsvangirai has many defects, key among them being that, like many leaders I have known is victim of collective decisions. And often because of this Tsvangirai is taken advantage of by mere power hungry opportunists like Bennett and Elton Mangoma.
Apart from raw hunger for power Elton and Roy cannot articulate what they really stand for. To start with Roy Bennett only saw it fit to join the MDC after mugabe stopped him from representing zpf party in 2000. We are told Roy was barred from standing for zpf because he was very disruptive, using his affluence (vote buying) to endear himself to the chimanimani constituency. But a closer look at Roy was that he has an entrenched racial attitude where he never liked educated Africans. In fact at his farm where he was grossing US$2 million revenue per year from sales of coffee he would not fathom employing educated blacks. Instead, in a typical Rhodesian mentality, Roy preferred only those blacks that were barely literate, the likes of James Mukwaya whom he made farm ‘manager’ in a window dressing charade. When Roy came to the MDC we are told that this attitude never changed and would continue in the same spirit. It was for this reason that he preferred to work with any literate blacks. Many in manicaland, where he started as an MDC representative many changes were effected to achieve this objective where only semi literate blacks would be preferred ahead of educated ones. At the national level he maneuvered and continued his disdain for enlightened blacks. Using his wealth he usurped the intelligence arms of the party staffing them again with the likes of Christmas Dhlamini, Spencer Ndemera etc. When the opportunity presented itself in 2007 Roy displayed the same attitude towards enlightened blacks preferring the likes of Shonhe who was seen then as barely literate.
Elton Mangoma cut his teeth in politics in 2000 when he became vice president of the short lived Zimbabwe independent parties (ZIP.) The irony of it was that every one with sound political judgment could tell that the real alternative was coming from the ranks of the ZCTU. Elton joins the MDC only attracted by its performance in the 2000 and 2002 elections. Clearly he is in the MDC for to satisfy his personal hunger for power. Like Tendai biti, in Elton lands the deputy treasurer position through manipulation and bending of democratic rules. At the second congress elton garnered only 147 votes of the 15 000 electors present but two months later he was deputy treasurer general. His record during the GNU speaks for itself; anti workers at ministry of energy, a disaster at the planning ministry and a total idiot at negotiations.
I leave you conclude if such a person means what he says when he emphasizes democracy and rights when all this points to a manipulative individual who cares only about his personal power.
@Mandy, you are clearly attempting to mislead in all your posts. You need to change your alias to hide your origins. You are attempting to exacerbate which leads me to believe you are one of Chamisa’s scribes or a zanoid. Not much difference between either.
You expose yourself in the way you attach people like Mangoma, Biti and Bennett. Zanoids are scared of Bennett. So is Chamisa and so is Tsvangirai. So we can all expect the back stabbers to come out on Bennett. He has more balls than most so jackals like you try to feed off him when his back is turned.
The problem with your whole spin is that no one will believe a word you utter. Mangoma, Biti and Bennett have already established their credibility and fools like you do not have the mental capacity to change that, no matter how hard you try. Go sing for you supper somewhere else.
Dear Mr or miss zhou.
Mandy only writes facts. Where are your facts to challenge my assertions.
I know Mangoma, Biti and Bennett personally. Your so-called ‘facts’ are pure fiction. Like I said, the people in question already have credibility, so go back to your hole where you belong.
To the contrary Biti and Mangoma have no credibility at all. Biti and Mangoma, like Welshman and Dulini before them are heartless people who are disdainful of working people. For example, they refused to grant severance packages to workers they retrenched way back before the GNU. This was in the courts and papers. Its only dishonest people like you nzou who want to erase facts of history. By defending the indefensible it only means you have no credibility yourself for you to confer any on Biti and Mangoma. No one can expect anything objective from you ‘samanyanga.’ In fact you portray yourself as one of their hatchet men.
People should find ways of claiming their their continuos stolen victory from ZANU, by so doing God , will be on ourside let’s stop braging about this useless noise of leadership renewal , remember , change is not simply brought by this quarrelling please
I think people should appreciate having pple like Mangoma and Biti in MDC , otherwise you are creating a situation like Zanu where Uncle Bob rules alone at the top and if by some twist of fate Tsvangirai does become leader of Zim in 20-30 years time then our children will be dealing with the same situation we are in where power has gotten to his head and we cannot get rid of him.
I think people should remember that the MDC base is youths that have been educated and can reason, if you are democratic and have a constitution then follow it, or better yet follow Mandela’s example who understood that a good legacy is one you leave while you are still wanted and become a father figure who gives advise to those that come after you.
Yes Tsvangirai formed MDC, and he has brought it as far as he could, he should leave while we still remember the sacrifices he made, the great strides he took, and leave it to the younger ones.
I think Mangoma and Biti should stick to their guns and stay in the party and fight to stop MDC from becoming the very thing MDC is fighting ZANU and an old man at the helm unwilling to let go.
@LucyTT, I totally agree with you
Biti will go the Mutambara way.