via Bulawayo24 NEWS | MDC-T to change its constitution to entrench Tsvangirai’s powers 24 June 2014 by Staff reporter
One of the major changes would be the weakening of the post of secretary-general in the wake of a rebellion led by incumbent Tendai Biti.
MDC-T recently said it had expelled Biti, but the former Finance minister had already led a pre-emptive coup against Tsvangirai by suspending him from the party. The leadership dispute is now likely to be settled through the courts with Biti’s renewal team saying it is pressing with plans to charge Tsvangirai.
MDC-T’s latest split mirrors the 2005 schisms where then secretary-general Welshman Ncube led a group that deserted Tsvangirai over his alleged dictatorial tendencies.
MDC-T sources yesterday said lobbying for constitutional changes had gained momentum as the party readies itself for an October congress.
According to insiders, provincial council meetings were being held in Chitungwiza and Harare since Thursday to discuss the amendments.
MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the discussions, but said there was no lobbying for the changes.
“Those suggestions are merely the wishes of certain persons in the party, but they still need to be tabled, debated and or modified before adoption at a congress,” he said.
However, a Chitungwiza provincial executive member said Tsvangirai loyalists were mainly interested in strengthening his hand in the party.
“We were briefed of the proposed constitution changes at the forthcoming congress slated for October,” the official said.
“The main changes would be the creation of a second vice-president and having the president appoint a weakened secretary-general following recent developments in the party where Tsvangirai now twice, had to fight against his secretary-generals.”
Sources said at the Thursday meeting, organising secretary Nelson Chamisa was booed by Chitungwiza delegates for failing to reign in out-of-favour provincial chairman Alexio Musundire.
But Tsvangirai remains favourite for the presidency although former Energy minister Elias Mudzuri has thrown his hat into the ring for the same post. officials in the MDC-T faction loyal to Morgan Tsvangirai have intensified consultations aimed at amending the party’s constitution to entrench his powers.One of the major changes would be the weakening of the post of secretary-general in the wake of a rebellion led by incumbent Tendai Biti.
MDC-T recently said it had expelled Biti, but the former Finance minister had already led a pre-emptive coup against Tsvangirai by suspending him from the party. The leadership dispute is now likely to be settled through the courts with Biti’s renewal team saying it is pressing with plans to charge Tsvangirai.
MDC-T’s latest split mirrors the 2005 schisms where then secretary-general Welshman Ncube led a group that deserted Tsvangirai over his alleged dictatorial tendencies.
MDC-T sources yesterday said lobbying for constitutional changes had gained momentum as the party readies itself for an October congress.
According to insiders, provincial council meetings were being held in Chitungwiza and Harare since Thursday to discuss the amendments.
MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the discussions, but said there was no lobbying for the changes.
“Those suggestions are merely the wishes of certain persons in the party, but they still need to be tabled, debated and or modified before adoption at a congress,” he said.
However, a Chitungwiza provincial executive member said Tsvangirai loyalists were mainly interested in strengthening his hand in the party.
“We were briefed of the proposed constitution changes at the forthcoming congress slated for October,” the official said.
“The main changes would be the creation of a second vice-president and having the president appoint a weakened secretary-general following recent developments in the party where Tsvangirai now twice, had to fight against his secretary-generals.”
Sources said at the Thursday meeting, organising secretary Nelson Chamisa was booed by Chitungwiza delegates for failing to reign in out-of-favour provincial chairman Alexio Musundire.
The MDC-T congress in October is likely to be tense amid reports that some party members are still pushing for Tsvangirai to step down ahead of the 2018 polls.
But Tsvangirai remains favourite for the presidency although former Energy minister Elias Mudzuri has thrown his hat into the ring for the same post. – See more at: http://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-49504.html#sthash.NmJaN4w6.dpuf
COMMENTS
Ko, kuzoti mave kutonga????
Ndokunge vatonga.
Vanotadza nei
The MDC is like a comma patient in a deep sleep,where they might probably not wake-up.Solely out of intramural disunity over inveterate Tswangirai’s dictactorial attitudes long proclaimed even by their former SG,now with the other splinter the MDC-N.If this story,out of the grapevine as it is for now,is confirmed true,such issues serve to confirm undemocratic principles the MDC-T embodies in denial.A wide berth shall be encouraged out from these guys,by all democratic aspirants.
Mandlinduna you hit the nail right on the head. We are seeing the unfolding of a process similar to the one that created the all powerful executive presidency which landed us in the mess that is now Zimbabwe. First, the MDC constitution was changed to remove the very important issue of term limits.
In the end, they will have constitution that mirrors Zanu p.f.’s. No surprises given the way Tsvangirai has been aping Mugabe in use of violence to silence dissent and corruption.
In shona they say “wanyanga yaona” a Mugabe in the making. One is enough.
If ever MT becomes President he will be like
“IF RGM CAN DO IT WHY CAN’T I”
-If RGM can have 3 mansions,a Swiss account,a mansion for each of his sprog etc why can’t I?
Mdlinduna
Its the MDC-T, not the MDC!!
I see another Zanu coming up here?
People waste time talking about democracy with MDC T. Weather there is democracy or not ZPF MUST GO!!! Our biggest problem is ZPF, lets not divert attention to petty MDC in house problem and ignore the elephant in our leaving room.
Mahlaba, no. You can not solve a problem by creating another problem. That is twisted logic in my book.
We are all seeking democracy because we are tired and have suffered under dictatorship.
How then do you expect us to solve this by dislodging a dictatorship through installing another dicatorship – with our eyes and ears wide open; a much, much more younger one at that?
This is mere hero-worshipping and desperation on your part. Stop with this nonsense!
precisely sharp shooter.you are right.you can’t solve a problem by creating another.its like going 1 step forward only to go two steps back.surely something has got to give.
You would replace one dictatorship with another. The answer to dictatorship is democracy and that is what Tsvangirai doesn’t understand. Like all African leaders he hasn’t got any other form of income and cannot bear to give up the good life.
Surely after two splits in a space of fifteen years it goes without saying that there is a structural problem in the MDC T. Both splits bore the hallmarks of an attempted coup through unconstitutional means – boardroom coups. Both splits have been around the office of the secretary general.
The two splits are proof of the existence of multiple centers of power within the movement. I believe that the structural problem is located within the constitutive framework of the movement as it reflects this dynamic. So therefore a constitutional reform is called for.
It is also clear that the two splits were based on opportunistic individuals who are power hungry than on any substantive issue. Welshman has since been rejected by the people and is now in hibernation after people questioned his motivation. Welshman had on, soon after the split of 2005, to do shopping for a President for his party; Arthur Mutambara. After one term in office he turned against his own import and wanted to take the wheel himself. The rest is history. Now we see Tendai Biti viciously going for the leadership and four months down the line we learn from him that
1. he did the unconstitutional coup because he has the support of the donor community
2. he made the unconstitutional move because he hates Tsvangirai. Nothing more and nothing less.
The donor community has not been silent about it though. They were seen embracing Tendai Biti and his cohorts: to the extent of condoning the ridiculous. Is it acceptable with the so called donor community that money provided for a just cause of displaced persons (IDPs) is now being used by no other Elton Mangoma to lure support for their new outfit. I hope that I have not put words in the renewal team’s mouth and neither have I put words into the donor community on this issue. But what is clear is that the so called donor community has not even attempted to distance themselves from this blatant act of corruption that Mangoma has exposed. I assume therefore that it is true.
But the injustice of it all is that:
1. the people that were displaced were never Elton Mangoma and Tendai Biti. I want to doubt if there relatives were at all affected by this displacement. I want to aver that they were not.
2. the people that were displaced are from the democratic movement the majority of which are in the mainstream MDC T led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Yes, indeed some are outside of the feuding parties like the Jestina Mukoko who spent so many months in prison for nothing except that she held a view that is different from that of zanupf. The question is how then does the international community give money to Elton Mangoma for that purpose avoiding neutral organisations like Counselling Services Unit (CSU) and Lawyers for human rights, (ZLHR.) I want to ask the Swedish and Norwegian governments if this is not abuse gone too far?
3. We have not been told when this funding was made available. To all intents and purpose it would appear that it was made available long ago when the repression was at its peak in 2006 to 2008. Currently we cannot talk of the same level of repression. Would we be therefore wrong to assume that the funding was made available then but was never disbursed by Elton Mangoma, Roy Bennett and Tendai Biti. I mention these names because Elton Mangoma has confessed to custody of this fund for the first time ever. To what extent was this so called donor community in agreement of this issue?
Lastly, I want to focus back on the issue of the need for constitutional reform for the mainstream Movement for Democratic Change. One cannot but arrive at a conclusion that the destabilisation of the movement is coming from the donor community through some form of elites. The student movement has so far featured as the nestling ground for this elite capture of the people’s movement. It was first Enock Chikweche aka Gwisai (in 2002), Arthur Mutambara, Job Sikhala, Welshman Ncube, Tafadzwa Musekiwa and Tapiwa Mashakada; all former members of the student movement. In fact Charlton Hwende was equally mentioned in 2002 when his colleagues were suspended from the movement for causing internal divisions. Now we have Tendai Biti again a former member of the student movement and International Socialist Organisation (ISO). Internally, everybody knows that Nelson Chamisa, a former Zinasu president, has been very destabilising even contributing to the extent of the loss when the election in 2013 was stolen. Yes, it is not a secret that Nelson Chamisa contributed to the extent of the loss of the stolen 2013 election as he rigged the primaries in favour of his friends. It was Nelson Chamisa and his hired gun in the Director of organising that prevented the MDCT from holding early primary elections inspite of the National Council’s decision to have done so by September 2012. I will not talk about how again Nelson Chamisa went on to abuse his position as Organizing Secretary to foist an election strategy that was so defective on the party. In fact Nelson Chamisa remains the most destabilizing element within the MDC T even upto now. It is again Nelson Chamisa who is pushing for an early congress to protect his own position totally refusing to focus on the national crisis.
My question is have we seen the last of these destabilizing elements within the MDC T? I think the answer is No. There are still there. I conclude that a constitutional change is overdue in the MDCT in order to protect the people’s project from the hijack by the elitist movement without and within.
mandy, stop wasting space. You are preaching ignorance; and propaganda!!
I agree with Mandy’s well prepared comment. Our party, MDC-T was infiltrated by enemies. Obviously ZPF uses all the tricks in the book to weaken a strong challenge. There may be areas within our party which need improvement but the renewal team are working for the enemy, knowingly or unknowingly. Thank you Mandy for your painstakingly prepared analysis.
Zanu also could have been in various fragments if Mugabe could not use his security agents to silence whoever rebels against him
Too long to follow. This space is meant for comments, not lectures please
Does this sound familiar? I am disgusted! May the Lord raise up is own man to lead this nation. A man after His own heart…
Mandy, your lengthy essay is all very unnecessary. Organisations succeed or fail largely due to the type of leadership.
Every organisation worthy its salt will have to contend with what you call destabilising elements but what most people will see as a natural phenomenon in a democracy where people fight for dominance.
A competent leader simply uses the the constitution to strengthen his hand. The moment the leader uses underhand tactics to stay at the helm the organisation will start to disintegrate. Blaming the donors is as laughable as blaming sanctions for the collapse of our economy. There was no hearing to dismiss Mangoma from the party. That is how civilised organisations operate.
Remember it was Tsvangirai who sought to undemocratically reverse the outcome of the vote on senatorial election participation. Most importantly, the issue of violence in the MDC has continued unabated either because Tsvangirai is too weak to deal with the instigators or he is the main beneficiary.
His seemingly inability to resist women from the Zanu p.f. pond is quite intriguing. But the most puzzling issue for most of us ordinary people was how anyone at all could go into an election against seasoned election thieves without having set eyes upon something as basic as the voters roll. It says an awful lot about how naive he is.
Who ever supports this gukurahundi ZANU PF clone going by the name MDC-T really needs ther head/s examined.
If the hero-worshipping illness makes people hear no evil and see no evil to this extent, then it realy, really is a very dangerous disease.
Here is a party that is fighting tooth and nail to remove from power a ruling party that is not different from them – so why exactly are they trying to remove ZANU PF?
Logic says that if they find it appropriate to copy everything that ZANU PF does, then there is no need to remove ZANU PF. We just as well carry on with the devil we all know.
People must be rationally commenting,MDC did not do much harm than the Zanu pf,we seem to forget quickly or else are we now used to hardships,its like we care less about the fundamentals which pushed Zimbabweans to foreign countries,Zanu pf committed treason to its own people
Tswangirayi should just go for his disciplinary hearing; after which he should shut up for ever and ever amen!!
Ruramai has hit the nail on the head. The problem is that of poor and weak leadership and calamitously poor decision making. In such an environment it is not surprising that ambitious politicians (like Ncube and Biti) will try to take advantage and make a run on the presidency. The fact that Save has remained popular on the ground is more a reflection of the level of maturity of our electorate. Remember Mugabe remained very popular with voters in the early 90s, by which time it had become evident to some that he was clueless on the economy and slowly suffocating our young democracy.
one thing for sure Tsvangirai is not dictator and the constitution of the country says the president can if elected save two five year terms
jobolinko
If Tswangirayi can change the party constitution will nilly to entrench his authority before he even comes to office, what guarantee do you have he wont do the same with the national constitution?
Wena, just admit one thing – you are so mesmerised with this dictator, for whatever reasons best known to you alone, that no amount of rational views or debates will make you see reason.
As I said elsewhere – you are a typical African black man. Democratic values are incompatible with your world view of what leadership is all about!!!!
Tsvangirai is just an implicit or explicit failure in politics. haalume coz zvakaramba. kana kune n’anga or prophet akamuti achaluma then arikuteya haka nzou neriva. leadership renewal (change) ndoyagara yanga ichidiwa. ndoirikutodiwa as well. swallow your pride mr president by simply demoting yourself.
Tsvangirai became another Mugabe when he was injured and became a martyr to the MDC T. Now he cannot be unseated democratically because the usual African belief that a polical party cannot survive without a ‘Big Man’. It can.
Tsvangirai, is a man with guts. He is the only one that has beaten Mugabe in an election since 1980.
But Tsvangirai must also realize that he is not everything Zimbabwe needs. We need more than just big balls. We need brains, we need principles, we need a realistic leader.
Tswangirayi is now useless. He has no money; the sponsors have abandoned him. The EU is re-engaging Zim – so where to little tribalistic upcoming dictator Tswangirayi; where to from here?
President; President; President – you wish – what a pity. I really pity this Buhera cattle header.
If wishes were horses beggars would ride indeed!!