via Holland takes over MDC renewal team leadership – DailyNews Live 17 September 2014 by Lloyd Mbiba
HARARE – Senator Sekai Holland has been officially appointed the MDC renewal team’s interim president.
Previously led by Tendai Biti, the MDC’s former Guardian Council chairperson told journalists yesterday at her home in Avondale, Harare, that she was now the interim president of the renewal team.
“I therefore on this note and occasion officially assume the role of interim party president as directed by the national council at Mandel,” Holland said.
Jacob Mafume, spokesperson of the MDC renewal team, confirmed that Holland was the new leader, adding that was what came out of the Mandel meeting that resolved that the party was now under the chairmanship of the Guardian Council.
Meanwhile, Holland railed against Morgan Tsvangirai, and said his leadership style was aberrant to democracy and that he had personalised the mainstream MDC.
“It is clear that MDC-Tsvangirai has become a personal property of one individual,” Holland said.
“It is time to reject that and return to our founding principles. The MDC renewal team is where those who still adhere to the original values and principles of the party are regrouping.
“His leadership style is totally unacceptable. A leader of the party should be filled according to experience and ability to contribute.
“Yet someone as talented as Elias Mudzuri, who was a major factor in our winning the 2008 election was unceremoniously sacked. His replacement was a huge failure who failed to organise the party structures,” she said apparently referring to new organising secretary Nelson Chamisa.
Chamisa said he would not say anything more than sympathise “with Holland’s mental composition.”
“She seems to be fuelled by hatred of personalities like myself and my president Morgan Tsvangirai to the extent of failing to distinguish between fact and fiction,” Chamisa told the Daily News.
“In the MDC, election strategy is a creature of the elections directorate as chaired by the national chairman, with the office of the secretary-general being the secretariat. Equally, primary elections fall under the gambit or aegis of the elections directorate.
“They must leave me alone. We have done the best under the circumstances. Look at the Cross Over Rally (held two days ahead of the July 31 harmonised elections), the recent one (last weekend) in Masvingo, we are in full throttle. In terms of organising, we are on all fours.
“Our structures are in all parts of the country. We don’t want to give a free lecture to a senior citizen like Sekai Holland, it’s not fair.”
Chamisa said if Holland was speaking about the success story of 2008, “why is she such a candidate of selective amnesia to forget that we ran the best media campaign, the “Morgan is more campaign” against Zanu PF.
A successful election campaign is a function of both the message and the messenger.
“That’s why I said I sympathise with her mental composition, and I genuinely wish her to get well soon.”
Chamisa said Holand was “driven and motivated by hatred, and motored by malice.
“We don’t lose sleep over petty issues. It’s a childish utterance by such a senior citizen of our country, which is both encyclopaedic and legendary,” Chamisa said.
Holland accused Tsvangirai of being the main engineer of violence in the MDC.
“Violence as a means of and oppression remains a central feature of the party with accusations never investigated properly that it emanates from the president’s office,” she said.
“The failure to institute mechanisms to deal with such a central matter as violence which MDC members in their thousands have experienced remains a sore point for most and for me as a torture survivor, the issue of violence must be a priority to our politics to normalise.”
Holland alleged party funds were abused. “Party finances have been abused for personal benefit and there has been no accountability to either of the senior party organs, the national executive and the national council,” she said.
“Assets purchased for party work are now explained to members as owned by individuals.”
The senator also accused Tsvangirai of being the sole reason for the demise of talks between the MDC and the renewal team.
“To secure that response, I instituted a process of mediation with a professional, experienced and international mediator.
“That was ultimately rejected by Tsvangirai after an initially promising start and three weeks of intense talking,” Holland said.
On her new role, Holland said she would consolidate the renewal team and make it a viable opposition movement.
“The interim leadership will focus on healing the internal divisions, put mechanisms in place to resolve internal party challenges and strengthen our many policies that will put the opposition party back on track,” she said.
“We will build our entity into a model of what an opposition party must be. It is critical that MDC sets up the standards of a strong viable party that can put our country back on its feet.”
COMMENTS
This new MDC,what is it renewing exactly
MDC brand, whether MDC renewal, MDC(T), MDC99 or MDC -Ncube, is finished… unfortunately for Zimbabwe. We are going to have to start and look elsewhere…a fresh start as we look towards 2018..assuming the current mafia gang lasts that long.
Please Mrs Holland we need leaders that can rise above attacking other leader no matter the reasons and actually lead. They need to be people who have a strategic plan to lift this country out of its current mess and a vision for our future. So for me you have not made a great start and will definitely not get my support as one of the many Zimbabweans who don’t have a political home.
I agree totally. All these opposition leaders should bury the hatchet, apologise to each other, apologise to the nation, begin to work together and show some political maturity and leadership qualities one of which is sacrificing self!
just saying
The did the quote “village politician” come from?
As it showed over the weekend, ordinary Zimbabweans have increased support for MDC .Its a fact and no member of the manure team would want to take a glance at the crowd in Mucheke.So firm and faithful with their trusted leadership.If Biti and Holland etc want a true agenda for Zimbabwe, they must start rallying and tell us how to demilitarise all forms of public leadership.During GNU, the guys couldn’t force SADC to convinve and force Mugabe to honour the agreement.It was a collective failure, brought about the ZANU PF system of divide and rule.Now they have seen there is no following, they keep on saying we are MDC, we are renewal, we are so and so. Even guys in UK who were bubbling infalse pretence I see they are sober now.I could take off my beards if you were saying uou want to renew the electoral system,army,police ,parastatal,judiciary and all forms of government.People are not stupid.Masvingo proved otherwise
Masvingo showed that Morgan is still popular. No surprises there. Mugabe remained popular in the 90s when it had become evident that he had no idea how to formulate policies that would lead to economic growth and prosperity.
Morgan has repeatedly failed to defend the people’s vote by ensuring the conditions for a free and fair elections, or alternatively formulating strategies to remove this corrupt, incompetent, oppressive regime. He tried his best. He remains popular. It is just not given to him.
If Biti and Mangoma’s itensions where to hand over leadership to another person, they would have fought Tsvangirai by a popular vote at a forum, without necessarily helding meeting where Tsvangirai was absent or such seniors in MDC. However this is the reapeat of MDC N when they gave leadership to Prof Authur Mtambara. At the right time they staged a palace coup, and took over as leaders and caused a lot of noice in courts and public gathering semearing each other with so much dirty that the prof is now like a political outcast. Why? No one put so much risk for the benefit of another. Biti and Mangoma will assume leadership whenever they want. Hollard you are better off being silent, and perhaps provide guidance if you have any, taking back soem of your words when Biti and Mangoma unmask their agenda will be very hard. Be warned, look at the history. Sithole and other elders in Zanu PF knows that anyperson who stage a coup is for his benefit not anyother. Abacha of Nigeria was behind every coup, coups in Nigeria ended after Abacha’s death, why? All that he wanted while supporting others was for his turn.
If Biti and Mangoma’s intensions where to hand over leadership to another person, they would have fought Tsvangirai by a popular vote at a forum, without necessarily helding meeting where Tsvangirai was absent or such seniors in MDC. However this is the reapeat of MDC N when they gave leadership to Prof Authur Mtambara. At the right time they staged a palace coup, and took over as leaders and caused a lot of noice in courts and public gathering semearing each other with so much dirty that the prof is now like a political outcast. Why? No one put so much risk for the benefit of another. Biti and Mangoma will assume leadership whenever they want. Hollard you are better off being silent, and perhaps provide guidance if you have any, taking back soem of your words when Biti and Mangoma unmask their agenda will be very hard. Be warned, look at the history. Sithole and other elders in Zanu PF knows that anyperson who stage a coup is for his benefit not anyother. Abacha of Nigeria was behind every coup, coups in Nigeria ended after Abacha’s death, why? All that he wanted while supporting others was for his turn.
All of u sound like very capable political strategists with a clear overview of the Zim situation and as to how it should be tackled. Would be good is a portion of you grew a pair and did something instead of blah blah’ing behind screen!
Ummmmmm Holland is not friendly, her face ummmm, does she ever smile? Compare with the drs Mugabe and mujuru, majome is ugly but can afford a smile, the late Susan tsvàngirai, p misihairambwi, truly speaking there is something wrong with Mrs Holland by merely looking at her ummmmm ndanyarara hangu.
Those who aspire to lead must be prepared to be held accountable and open to criticism as well as praise. Just as those of us who support and follow them must not follow fearfully, silently or fawningly. That is how our nation created the Mugabe of today
I got a problem with the Renewal Team lot. What is their promise to us the general electorate? They are talking about Tsvangirai and demonising him but he still attracts huge crowds at his rallies while the renewal group struggle to fill a minibus. We have heard about principles so many times and people wont buy such ranting about principles. Chamisa is right to say that that old Holland needs her mental composition assessed. By doing things outside party guidelines is that being principled? Tell us wat u want to do to remove Zanu pf from power because its the common nemisis for us all.
Forget the political parties. The future lies in the hands of ordinary citizens. Its been done before, it can be done again
ana biti nanahollant dnt even knw what a they doing,thats the end of their political carier,i dnt go fo such unorganised pple,vane makaro,westing their time,tsvangirai show them the way.