via Mkwananzi urges top MDC-T leadership to denounce violence | SW Radio Africa by Tichaona Sibanda on Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Promise Mkwananzi, the MDC-T youth assembly secretary-general, has urged the top leadership of the party to denounce violence and ensure that perpetrators of last weekend’s disturbances outside Harvest House are punished.
The youth leader, one of three senior party members to be manhandled by youths baying for their blood, for allegedly leading a plot to oust party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, said the ‘silence is deafening’ over the violence.
Mkwananzi told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that the party should desist from making false statements that those behind the attacks are from ZANU PF, insisting that he was beaten up by MDC-T youths, ‘people I have worked with for years.’
He said his immedate reaction after the attack was that of disappointment and anger, especially realizing that he had been set upon by people he thought should be defending him from ZANU PF’s violent tendencies.
‘I’m their leader, I know them like the back of my hand, and so to suggest I was attacked by ZANU PF youths, when in fact I was beaten up by people I work with everyday, is not only unfortunate but trying to hide the truth unashamedly,’ Mkwananzi said.
He added: ‘We need a strong statement from the top leadership denouncing violence. Lets not use the laws of the jungle to settle personal differences. The party has a constitution which spells out the appropriate channels and platforms to resolve differences.’
One of the leaders who was attacked on Saturday and had his shirt torn and glasses destroyed was Elton Mangoma, the deputy treasurer-general. He has now made a formal complaint to the police.
Secretary-general Tendai Biti reportedly escaped the mob by getting into Tsvangirai’s car, while another youth president, Solomon Madzore, remained holed up in Harvest House for his safety.
COMMENTS
what a disgusting development. And poor madzore! On one hand, ZANU-PF beats him up and jails him because of the MDC. And, on the other, MDC beats him up for the same reasons his party is fighting to achieve – freedom of ideas and association.
Tsvangirai cannot solve any issues within his party in this manner. He needs to mature, politically. We have walked down this road before and beating up people to change their minds will not work. ZANU-PF beat up Tsvangirai many times trying to make him change his mind. Did he?
It is a shame that after fighting injustice so hard, he himself finds himself accused of the same tactics employed on him by ZANU-PF without success.
For whoever is to blame, Tsvangirai must apologise to his followers for this incident.
From Movement For Democratic Change to Movement For Destructive Change.Where does it stop in this movement? It looks like the party has no internal security branch to protect members or that branch is being personalized by the leader for victimizing the blacklisted persons.
Its a pity that brother is fighting brother as per the youth leader’s statement with no intervention from the leadership,so how will it be controlled.
This party has serious problems to resolve or else it will just break into pieces soon.
Let’s all give a call to Strive. We need a total change of leadership. MDC and ZANU dinosaur mentality will take us all to the grave.Bush you might dislike him but he always put America first. That’s the type of leadership we want,not these selfish and egocentric thieving buggers.
MDC is not as bad as you want them to be. Mangoma and company have messed up big time. Why do they call for Tsvangirayi to step down. There is nothing warranting his stepping down as a matter urgency. Tsvangirayi is leading a long struggle not a country.
You are brain dead, my friend.
Mface iwewe uri mhata, wat kind of thinking is this. There is nothing wrong in someone calling for leadership change, isn’t it the democracy we want. what mangoma and company did was just a mere expression of their minds and iwewe woti Aiwa ngavarohwe. there are some blockages that choking good functioning of your small brains. Tsvangirai should go!!!! Our struggle looks beyond Tsvangirai
Nonsense majoni wat struggle dats dictatorship at its birth,,he is nw try clinging 2 power by all means dats includes thorough beatings after he buys dem chibuku
Murimi has always had his suspicions about the glorified,modern,progressive ,peace-loving movement.
Please Strive Masiiwa, can you throw your hat in the ring & steer our country like you do with Econet, we need a leader with Dignity, morals, intergrity, vision & above all Democratic. If you start now I think by 2018 you may have a real chance.
Frankly Tswangirai is not leading any struggle. The struggle is not led like what this man is doing. Those who continue to believe this do so to their peril. I hate their false words like “Bulawayo our liberated zone”. Liberated from what to what? What liberation does or can Mpopoma MP Bekithemba Nyathi or his predecessor the mbanje addict Sandla Khumalo ever bring to mankind except insulting Zanupf and mob-street debates in support of Tswangirai? The best thing for the organisation is to tolerate political differences within the party. This will cultivate democracy and inspire accountability not mine-compound or village thuggery against each other. Its like they all grew up in a street of sheebins!
ancestors, grandparents, parents,come over the years, but the youth are emerging and still importantly we need to instal directing obligations with the experience, middle aging brilliance of Strive, Simba and entrusting Ian Khama.
Let us depose the thieves.
Strive wont form a party because these guys know his past so they will use it to destroy him and his Econet empire.Do not waste time trying to ask him to form a party because it wont happen.
I say thumps up to Majoni.u shal say he is a Dictator or what ,u want hm to b soft and blame him again,those who want to take over must tell us what Tsvangi failed to do and themselves what they are going to do.if u just cme and say we want u out without seling yr ideas on the grassroots u wl pay for that bigtime.Biti and compony must fight hard .if i may ask u guys What is the name of the Party??? Think again guys Bf u hide behind the word DEMOCRACY.ICHOOO! CHARIRA AND CHICHARIRISA.
Individual wants must not override those of the majority. Why are 3 or so individuals interested in removing Tsvangirai? Why this hurry and these short cuts? The MDC supporters gave Tsvangirai a mandate to lead till the next congress in 2016. They haven’t taken that mandate from him yet. Now what has gone so wrong that these Mkwananzis and Mangomas want him to go? Stop telling lies also. Madzore was never attacked. Biti was also never attacked. The point is the people still want Tsvangirai. If you can’t read the people’s mood then you are not worth the slogans you make. Let congress decide about Tsvangirai. If you can’t stomach that,then ship out.
MDC as a party is finished. That is a fact.
get this over with with an early congress….
Mangoma and his team are missing the point. Tsvangirai and all the current leadership can leave office thru congress which will be held in 2016. My advice to Mangoma and his team is to start campaigning now in preparation of 2016. What they are doing is unconstituional although the use of violence to further one’s ideas is not acceptable.
This is a sad day for democracy-starved Zimboz. As I read and see pictures of the tortured and bruised Mangoma, purportedly at the hands of intolerant fellow MDC_T cadres, I could not hold my tears. Not necessarily crying for Mr Mangoma but for my beloved country and the stillbirth of our much anticipated democracy.
Immediately after crying profusely, what came to my mind was this biblical verse found in Mathew and may be other books also:
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
Is this verse not reflecting snuggly the MDC of today? Possibly, not on the MDC party as a whole. But can the same be said about the a leadership which is now apparently busy competing with RGM for degrees in violence. Reyai vamwe vakati, vanerombo rakanaka vanopinda mujira nemuroyi vachibuda vasina nyora dzokuti varoyevo. It seems like the history of some of the MDC leaders as part and parcel of zanu pf in their formative years and their close association with zanu pf in the recently ended GNU will continue to haunt the MDC.
My take is MDC has to act decisively on intolerance & violence. Otherwise its end is much nearer than ever before, and will be inevitable, only zero tolerance of such nonsense can save the party. Surely people can not risk replacing zanu pf with another zanu pf. Chances are majority might opt to keep the evil they know than experimenting with a new evil, whose extend of evilness they do not know.
The hidden hands continues to operate. Slowly manipulating. Slowly suggesting. As it goes about it’s business slowly but surely those affected get blinded as to who’s body the hand is attached to. They start to bicker. Suggestions and accusations get thrown around. The hands agents start throwing around little positive suggestions about the body. Suddenly the body that has caused so much grief begins to look like it won’t be that bad after all. That is spin…
Zanu at it again trying to divert attention from the salarygate. And craftly winning. Wise up Zimbos and spend more time on real issues.
Iwe Promise tikwanire wanzwa. Wakaroverwei? Kutaurisa, you are fast becoming irrelevant my boy. Bulawayo yakakuramba and this is your exit door.
chimutengwende well said. From what you see here is the hidden hand of Zanu. All respect to what Biti done during his tenure but something started to smell when he started praising Gono as a man who cared about his country. Gono destroyed the monetary policies that Zimbabwe was never the same again.
Comrades the MDC T councillors were paid out by ZANU PF to work against their own party , so whats new here ??????????????????????????????????????????
Save is now a shallow river where women do their washing and children swim across freely. If MDC had state apparatus it was going to be worse than than ZPF.
I for one am a strong supporter of freedom of speech therefore I try to read and understand what others say. I can only say that being human I am not perfect and do sometimes get it wrong. Difference is I am not in the spotlight here. Like all my brothers on this forum no matter who they support I am just a commentator who seeks to interpret the facts as I see them. The culture of violence in Zimbabwe Polices (note I say Zimbabwe because Zimbabwe was born in 1980)began with the the Parties that were contesting at that time and of course there was the clashes between Zipra and Zanla. The two groups we together at Lancaster house but still failed to operate together and violence erupted. After the intervention of certain people, one of them The Late Joshua Nkomo the appeals were heeded and a civil war was avoided. Not to go into this History when the Army surrounded Bulawayo in the early 80’s My daughter and I were caught in the outskirts of Bulawayo at a Army and Police road block. I had my ID card but I was frog marched and slapped repeatedly my crying daughter watching. All I am saying is that we have seen the monster of political violence that Zanu created. That is the reason why I have always said that the MDC was infiltrated. There is a lot of evidence of who and what the hidden hand is. It is sure working. At the moment no one is looking at the violence in other partys but the MDC. The hidden hand has plans for the total destruction of their the biggest rival. Welshman has already been silenced.
If you start the jungle way then you test your own medicine. If the party has a constitution to remove tsvangison follow it and keep away fromm the jungle, otherwise all sellouts are desciplines by the people he betrays. Keep away from your followers bcoz now you look like you have been bought by the GOnos/Bitis of this world. Unodashurwa
We need people to start bringing in their CV for the post of Sec General,treasure Gen and vice tr Gen, National Youth Chair,and youth Secretay Gen.WHY ?because even the above guys cries tears of blood at congress they are nt coming back unless Save himself save one of them because they are nw sleeping outside Save’s door begging for mercy.they are stupid.vanyangira yaona vanorira chete.they gona start using their masters Police because they cant win against the people if their master failed alone they think they can win against the people Ask Welsh and Company even Job and Gwisai they are forgeting that they are flying on Save’s Wings let hm withdraw them and see whether they can fly again.Sory maGents