Ian Kay joins Bennett in MDC-T leadership change call

via Ian Kay joins Bennett in MDC-T leadership change call by Jairos Saunyama for NewsDay September 23, 2013

MDC-T Marondera Central losing parliamentary candidate Iain Kay has joined the party’s exiled treasurer-general Roy Bennett in calling for leadership renewal within the Morgan Tsvangirai-led party.

“This is like a soccer team. If the coach continues losing, there is need for the technical board to sit down and deal with the issue,” Kay told NewsDay in an interview over the weekend.

“There is need to plan ahead before the ship sinks and if there is need to change the coach, then let it be. Or should I say it is like a rusty bolt? There is need for it to be removed and replaced with a new one rather than leave it like that,” he said without elaborating.

Two weeks ago, Bennett, who is in self-imposed exile in South Africa, torched a storm in the MDC-T after he openly challenged Tsvangirai to step down accusing him of failing to dislodge President Robert Mugabe in the past three elections including the just-ended race where he garnered a paltry 34% of the vote against the Zanu PF leader who got 61%.

Tsvangirai last week told journalists that he would step down only after being voted out at congress in 2016.

“I don’t intend to stay a day longer beyond my mandate, but I am not going to step down because a newspaper is saying I should step down or because Zanu PF is saying I should step down,” Tsvangirai said.

“If there is need for leadership renewal, we don’t suppress it; we actually encourage it. But you don’t just walk up in the streets and say Tsvangirai must go. There are processes that should be instituted and there are forums that will make that decision and one of those key forums is a congress. I was elected at a congress of party delegates in 2011 and the next congress is in 2016.”