By Christopher Makaza
Divisions have emerged in the MDC Masvingo Provincial Assembly over demonstrations, with one faction pushing for the prioritisation of the pending demonstration while the other group believes that focus must be centred on the pending two by-elections in the province.
The anti-government protest for Masvingo is slated for tomorrow while the two by-elections for Masvingo urban ward 1 and Zaka East are scheduled for 7 and 21 September respectively.
Speaking at a provincial management committee meeting in Masvingo, the party`s Provincial Organising Secretary Bonface Mudzingwa castigated some provincial and national executive members for prioritising anti-government demonstrations ahead of the by-election highlighting that some national executive members were arm-twisting Masvingo Provincial Chair, James Gumbi to mobilise for the 21 August demonstrations at the expense of the by-elections.
“It`s sad that we have been losing by-elections as a party but it`s unfortunate that the party is not even moved by that. We continue to misplace our priorities. We must concentrate more on the forthcoming by-elections because if we continue to lose, it will give a wrong impression that Zanu PF is becoming more popular than us,” said Mudzingwa.
Zanu PF recently won all three by-elections held in Lupane East, Bubi Ward 22, and Nkayi South Ward 23 in Matabeleland North Province.
In March, MDC-Alliance also lost Bulawayo’s Ward 28 by-election, with ZANU-PF candidate Cde Kidwell Mujuru defeating the party for the first time since year 2000.
Mudzingwa revealed that Gumbi`s chairmanship is under threat should he fail to mobilise for the demonstrations, further revealing that Gumbi`s executive is hesitant to stage demonstrations as they prefer to focus on the impending by-elections. Mudzingwa added that even the majority of the grassroots are not willing to participate in the demonstrations for fear of arrests.
The Provincial Secretary for Tradition and Culture, Misheck Marava and Provincial Secretary for Communications, Dereck Charamba also echoed Mudzingwa`s sentiments saying mobilising for demonstrations is going to be very difficult because party members no longer have the zeal to participate fearing clashes with the security forces.
During the meeting, donations were made towards the two events with members supporting the demonstrations donating RTGs 336, US$20, R100 and 40litres of diesel while those in support of prioritising the by-election raised RTGs800, US 60, R100 and 60litres of diesel.
The meeting resolved to concentrate on mobilising for Masvingo urban which they view as a safe seat that they can easily win compared to Zaka East which is dominated by Zanu PF.
A contact in the opposition party revealed that the party leader, Nelson Chamisa last week called Gumbi accusing him of non-visibility and failure to mobilise support for the party in the province. It is alleged that Chamisa threatened to recall Gumbi if the party loses the upcoming by-elections.
Under Gumbi’s leadership, the MDC has already dismally lost the Bikita East Constituency Ward 32. In 2018 harmonised elections, the MDC lost 25 of the 26 constituencies in the province to Zanu PF. Chamisa fears that 2023 elections will be a repeat of the 2018 if Gumbi is not shipped out.
