EXCLUSIVE!!! MDC REBELS PONDER FORMING MILITARY WING By Itai Dzamara JOHANNESBURG A GROUP of members within the camp of MDC rebels believes the struggle against the Zanu PF regime may require them waging an armed battle and have been juggling with that option. Exclusive information obtained by The News Leader confirms that a group comprising mainly youthful activists involved in the MDC rebel group here in South Africa is seriously intent on what appears to be overzealous adventurism - which is not backed by the rest of the MDC rebels camp, especially the core leadership in Harare. It is an aspect that highlights the nature of discord and existence of various conflicting interests within the MDC rebels camp. The News Leader is in possession of communication leaked from a whatsapp group involving activists based around Johannesburg, Diepsloot and Pretoria. The leaked text conversations show that there were discussions about conflict and differences caused by the move by some of the members to form a military wing. Nomatter what the future holds for the MDC or a new party, altogether (sic), a military wing must be formed, one of the MDC rebels member, whose name we are witholding, posted. Another one concurred, Leader **** you are right. That is the the last option. We have to fight for our freedom and get our country back. We cant do the same thing again and again and expect to get different results. Millions of people are being held hostage by bandits masquerading as leaders. A third member of the group also agreed, by saying, Very correct. Diplomacy has been tried. Voting has been tried. AU, SADC, UN, EU, US, UK, they must all now shut up and leave Zimbabweans to find their own solution and if its an uprising then they must leave us to do it. However, the initiator of the discussion and major proponent of the idea then went on to reveal how it has caused divisions. I am getting mixed responses for posting the T-Shirts pictures and the words with it. Guys for how long must we hide and discuss such issues in private meetings, which at the end of the day result in nothing happening? Must we be scared to post a picture of a T-Shirt? Really? Do you all think ZanuPF will walk out of office if they lose? Just hand over the keys to the government? The pictures of T-Shirts he was refering to have been leaked to The News Leader, and show that the group has already been creating messages carrying their idea of an armed fight against the Zanu PF regime. The pictures of T-Shirts show them inscribed with the message, Zimbabwe Freedom Fighters: Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable. Images of two AK 47 rifles appear in the background of the words. We shall show a picture of the T-Shirt on another page. Investigations by The News Leader show that the group advocating for the military wing appears to have some source of funding, and our sources linked it to MDC treasurer general Roy Bennett. Repeated effort to arrange an interview with Bennett failed. l am not interested in that, he said. Other members of the MDC rebels group, both in SA and in Zimbabwe, dismissed the military wing advocates with one senior official saying, they are misguided and overzealous gangs taking Bennetts dreams too far. Bennett, who has since stopped participating in the MDC rebel groups activities, is understood to have, for a long time, believed in trying the option of armed conflict or uprising against the Zanu PF regime. Bennett was haunted out of Zimbabwe and into exile by the Zanu PF regime, which, among others, accused him of plotting terrorism and banditry for overthrowing government. Spokesman of the MDC rebels group Jacob Mafume did not answer his mobile phone when we wanted to obtain his comment. The MDC rebels group has been characterised by serious conflict of interests. A lot of information has pointed to it having links with Zanu PF, yet Bennett was believed to have brought in the backing of former Rhodesians while western donors also had an influence. Resultantly, the Tendai Biti-led group of MDC rebels, has been a bandwagon of drama, conflict and inconsistency, including the adventurism by the military wing proponents. Our investigations show that here in SA, the group advocating for a military wing may have already started holding secret and parallel programmes, excluding other members and it seems a split is inevitable on that basis.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 07:05:01 +0000
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