Chaos at Tsvangirai’s funeral as succession battle intensifies 

Source: Chaos at Tsvangirai’s funeral as succession battle intensifies – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 20, 2018

Some senior Movement for Democratic Change (MDC T) officials were chased
away by youths from Morgan Tsvangirai’s burial in Buhera on Tuesday as the
party’s succession fight reached unprecedented heights.

TimesLive

One of the vice presidents’ Nelson Chamisa’ took control of the party
presidency through a hastily arranged national council meeting a day after
Tsvangirai’s death last week.

This effectively shut out the other two deputies’ Thokozani Khupe and
Elias Mudzuri’ who both claim leadership of the party.

At the Tsvangirai homestead in Hamunikwa village in the Buhera area’
youths carrying bricks and other objects called for Khupe’s head and that
of party secretary general Douglas Mwonzora.

The two were eventually escorted out of the premises by Zimbabwe Republic
Police (ZRP) fearing for their lives.

Khupe and Mwonzora differ with Chamisa in that they want an extraordinary
congress to elect a new party leader.

However’ during the memorial service’ attended by thousands in Harare on
Monday’ Chamisa took charge of proceedings and declared himself leader.

“We have done what is necessary to make sure that there is no leadership
vacuum in the party. We did what was perfectly constitutional'” he said
amid cheers from the crowd.

Chamisa also warned that those who go against him will be expelled.

“As leaders you are like caps on a head and can be removed when the owner
is fed up. So be careful'” he barked.

The MDC T succession fight has since sucked in members of Tsvangirai’s
family’ with some siding with Chamisa and others opting between Khupe and
Mudzuri.

At the memorial service’ Richard Tsvangirai junior openly endorsed Chamisa
as the rightful heir to his father’s role in the party.

But his grandmother’ Lydia Chibwe’ upon arrival of her son’s corpse from
South Africa in Harare’ threatened to commit suicide if Chamisa and her
daughter-in-law’ Elizabeth’ attended her son’s funeral wake and burial.

Chibwe refused to disembark from the hearse carrying Tsvangirai’s casket
to the memorial service in Harare.

Of the three vice presidents’ only Khupe was elected by the party’s
congress in 2014.

The other two were appointed by Tsvangirai in 2016 when he felt that Khupe
had gained sufficient political capital to challenge him.