by Innocent Mujeri
The MDC Bulawayo members are in a dilemma on which political path to take amidst political bickering and factionalism that has rocked that opposition outfit.
A contact in the MDC Bulawayo Provincial executive who preferred anonymity for fear of reprisal, said 14 MDC members of the Nelson Chamisa led faction held a caucus meeting in Bulawayo on Monday to map the way forward concerning their political careers amidst infighting that is currently rocking that party.
The caucus meeting was also attended by four legislators namely; Bulawayo Central MP , Nicola Watson; Emakhandeni–Entumbane MP, Dingilizwe Tshuma; Lobengula MP, Gift Banda and Senator Gideon Shoko.
“The MPs who attended the caucus said they can not risk their political careers by siding with Chamisa as it might mean recall from parliament. The legislators also said they are yet to recover their resources used when campaigning for the parliamentary positions in 2018, hence they cannot continue to align themselves with Chamisa as he has no power to guarantee their stay in the august house,” said the contact.
Banda is also believed to have said that there are no political benefits being realised from aligning with the Chamisa faction. He said he was in parliament because of his own popularity and hard work.
He is also believed to have said that the MDC Alliance was not doing anything for the legislators except asking for a percentage from their parliamentary allowances to foot that party’s financial bills.
The same contact further revealed that some people in the caucus meeting were accusing Chamisa for being the architect of the problems currently bedevilling the MDC.
“People like Shoko and Banda were blaming Chamisa for causing all the problems in the MDC. They were saying that Chamisa should have heeded to the dictates of the Supreme Court ruling and go for the Extra Ordinary Congress as he had a chance of winning the party’s presidency. Some were saying that Chamisa is slowly proving to be politically ineffective, hence they were planning to cross floor the to the Thokozani Khupe led faction,” said the contact.
The MDC is currently rocked with factional battles pitting Chamisa and Khupe. In March this year, the Supreme Court ruled that Chamisa was an illegitimate president of the MDC and reinstated Khupe as the acting president until a congress could be held to elect a substantive leader.
Since then, infighting has ripped the party asunder resulting in 13 legislators losing their parliamentary seats, after being recalled from the august house by the Thokozani Kuphe led MDC-T.
