Source: MDC targets ‘fence-sitting’ councillors – NewsDay Zimbabwe
MDC Alliance ward 4 councillor Silas Chigora has been ejected from the Bulawayo East constituency district chairmanship over his alleged questionable loyalty to the opposition party and its leadership.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
Chigora is reportedly among a group of Bulawayo councillors and legislators mulling crossing the floor to the Thokozani Khupe-led MDC-T fearing recall from Parliament and the local authority chambers.
Khupe, who is acting president of the MDC-T following a March 30 Supreme Court ruling, has recalled some MDC Alliance legislators and councillors.
Indications were that more MDC Alliance legislators and councillors face recall, instilling fear in some Bulawayo city fathers and MPs.
In Bulawayo, Chigora’s crime was also linked to messages he allegedly posted on a party WhatsApp group claiming that “our president (Nelson Chamisa) is a big liar; we can’t continue supporting Chamisa. It’s better to support Khupe, who is mature and educated, not Chamisa who is politically immature”.
MDC Alliance provincial spokesperson Swithern Chirowodza confirmed the removal of Chigora as district chairperson yesterday.
“I can confirm that MDC Alliance Bulawayo East District has made a recommendation to the party’s Bulawayo provincial executive for the suspension of Silas Chigora from the position of district chairman pending disciplinary hearing,” Chirowodza said.
“The finer details on the recommendation for removal will be given in a written communication that MDC Alliance Bulawayo East district must forward to my office in terms of the party’s code of
conduct.”
Chigora yesterday pledged his undying loyalty to Chamisa and the MDC Alliance when contacted for comment.
“It’s all factionalism (his removal from post), but from my side of the story, I remain an MDC Alliance councillor because I was not deployed by Khupe. Whoever has been misquoting me in the chats does not understand the animal that is MDC Alliance,” Chigora said.
Bulawayo MDC structures are no stranger to factional fights.
The fights, some that have often assumed a tribal angle, have also spilled into council, disrupting operations of the local authority in the process.
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