Biti refuses to go

via Biti refuses to go – DailyNews Live by Mugove Tafirenyika  1 MAY 2014

Tendai Biti and other rebels booted out of the MDC on Tuesday for attempting to stage a palace coup against MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai have refused to go, describing their expulsion as null and void.

Expelled deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma, yesterday claimed his faction would drag Tsvangirai and other suspended party leaders to a tribunal where they would be charged.

“Whatever they have done is null and void,” Mangoma said. “We are going to effect the resolutions that were made by the proper national council at Mandel.”

The former Energy minister claimed Tsvangirai and his lieutenants had since been served with summons outlining various charges levelled against them.

Mangoma, who was flanked by his spokesperson Jacob Mafume and Last Maengahama, said his faction would not participate in the extraordinary congress scheduled for October, arguing Tsvangirai had no authority to call for such a meeting because he was suspended.

“As far as their congress is concerned, isn’t it strange that after making sure that he (Tsvangirai) has terrorised everyone who wanted to challenge him, he now says let us go to congress?

“Unfortunately, we will not go into any contestation whose outcome is predetermined,” he said.

Mangoma conceded that his faction had very few Members of Parliament (MPs) aligned to it, but claimed more would join them along the way.

Asked whether MPs did not believe that Biti, who has since written to Parliament to block their possible expulsion can save them, Mafume said “the attendance of MPs today (at Tsvangirai’s caucus) was a result of a margin of terror.”

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Institute has distanced itself from suggestions that they are part of donors funding the Biti rebels.

An official with the organisation, Isaac Maposa, yesterday said they never attended a meeting convened by the Biti group as was insinuated by the Tsvangirai-led MDC group.Biti refuses to go