Charamba dismisses NewsDay story Zanu-PF caucus meets ahead of Parly swearing-in Tsvangirai admits to imposing mayoral candidates September 2, 2013 Local News #MDC-T leader Mr Morgan #Tsvangirai has admitted that the party’s selection of mayoral candidates is tantamount to imposition, but said the party will not entertain any appeals over the matter. Mr Tsvangirai was speaking at a retreat held at Mandel Training Centre in Harare to review his party’s dismal performance in the harmonised elections on July 31. Sources who attended the meeting said Mr Tsvangirai argued that the imposition was justified to avoid divisions in the party. MDC-T has selected people outside the list of elected councillors to be mayors, with former Justice and Legal Affairs deputy minister Obert Gutu chosen for Harare. However, the party is expecting its elected councillors to confirm these appointments. Mayors have to be elected by elected councillors sitting at a meeting called for that purpose. The party’s deputy spokesperson for Chitungwiza Mr Isaac Manyemba is set to lead the town as mayor, while National University of Science and Technology lecturer Mr Mandla Nyathi will be the party candidate for mayor for Bulawayo. The sources said one of the resolutions to come out of the retreat held on August 27 and 28, was that the MDC-T was planning to make the country “ungovernable” following its crushing defeat by Zanu-PF. Mr Tsvangirai managed to garner 33,94 percent of the presidential vote compared to President Mugabe who received 61,09 percent. Sources who attended the meeting told the Herald that Mr Tsvangirai questioned the number of people who were assisted to vote and the number of those turned away on the voting day. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said at least 305 000 prospective voters were turned away for various reasons while only 207 000 were assisted to vote. The figures not alarming compared to those obtained from the region which show that other countries turn away far more than those in the harmonised elections. MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the retreat, saying that it was an indoor meeting to map the way forward. He refused to reveal the party’s strategy which he said would be rolled out soon. “It was just about the way forward. We received a detailed and chilling report from our technical team on how this election was stolen. The issue of high number of people who were turned away was discussed, of course, as one of the irregularities of this poll,” he said. Sources said several members of the standing committee, the party’s highest decision making organ outside congress, gave varying assessments that resulted in their defeat. “He (Mr Tsvangirai) queried the number of assisted voters in the provinces of Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central, Matabeleland North and Midlands provinces, arguing that this ran contrary to Zimbabwe’s high literacy rates,” said the source. “Without elaborating, he vowed that his party would make the country ungovernable.” Sources said MDC-T organising secretary Mr Nelson Chamisa and the party’s Harare provincial executive member Mr Morgan Femai attributed the party’s dismal performance to complacency and lack of preparedness. “Mr Chamisa and Mr Femai noted that the party might pay the price for taking its followers for granted through previous unfulfilled election promises, hence the protest vote,” said the source. “(Solomon) Madzore confided that the introduction of meaningful development projects by Zanu-PF lured a significant number of youths who are deemed to be the vanguard of the MDC-T.” The source said MDC-T chairperson for the Women Assembly Mrs Theresa Makone was of the opinion the party should address its internal squabbles. Mrs Makone, said the source, felt that divisions within the party’s top echelons contributed heavily towards the party’s poor showing in the elections. In this regard, the source said, former Energy and Power Development Minister Engineer Elias Mudzuri accused Mr Chamisa and Mr Madzore of being too ambitious and fanning factionalism in the party. “(Mr) Chamisa denied the allegation, while Solo remained mum,” said the source. During plenary sessions, the source said, it was admitted that Zanu-PF benefited from its people-oriented policies such as scrapping of council utility bills. The plenary session also confirmed the loss of faith in the party by civic society organisations. “The feeling was that, if the anti-MDC-T rhetoric from Professor Lovemore Madhuku who is the National Constitutional Assembly chairman, was anything to go by, then CSOs were on the verge of forming a political party to rival the MDC-T,” said the source. The source said Mr Charles Mangongera who is a director in the party’s organising department was tasked to head a technical team to work on strategies of reviving its waning fortunes in preparation for the 2018 harmonised elections. Herald
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 05:08:20 +0000
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