Political Reporter 

MDC Alliance national organizing secretary Amos Chibaya has been sucked in the factional fights currently bedeviling that party’s Bulawayo structures with reports saying that he directed that the under fire provincial chairperson James Sithole should continue in his position.

According to sources, Chibaya secretly sneaked into Bulawayo last Wednesday to quench the factional fires in that Province. Chibaya was then booked at a local hotel by Gift Banda where he was briefed that the Thabitha Khumalo faction was causing havoc in that province.

The following morning, Chibaya convened a meeting at that party’s provincial offices with the agenda of endorsing the chairmanship of Sithole. However, he was surprised to see Khumalo who was not invited to the meeting storming in. With Khumalo in attendance, Chibaya failed to publicly throw his weight behind Sithole and ended urging the warring factions to smoke a peace pipe and work together.

According to the source, Chibaya later secretly told Sithole that the national leadership was behind him and he should continue discharging his duties without fear of suspension or expulsion. Empowered by Chibaya’s assurance, Sithole yesterday then released a statement urging members to bury the hatchet and work together.

“On 16 June 2021, the party’s national organizing secretary Cde Amos Chibaya visited our Province where he met with elected members of the Province’s three wings. On the table were issues of indiscipline, divisions and others. I therefore urge party members in all structures to stop forthwith the attack on each other, fanning divisions on social media and sending messages likely to provoke others.

“The national organizer in his own words said he has been lenient with perpetrators of such but it is now time to act,” reads Sithole’s statement.

However, a source aligned to Khumalo revealed that faction members had vowed that they are not going to support the continued stay Sithole as their chairperson and had since threatened to stage a demonstration at the party’s provincial office until Sithole is dethroned.

“Chibaya cannot tell us what to do. We have made it clear that Sithole is a traitor and should be removed as the chairperson. Chibaya is only endorsing Sithole because they are from the same faction that is against Nelson Chamisa’s leadership. What was Chibaya doing in Bulawayo when the president had promised to send a fact finding mission? If Chibaya likes Sithole that much, they should appoint him to the National Standing Committee instead of imposing him on us,” fumed the source.

Efforts to get a comment from Chibaya were futile as his phones were not reachable.