by Innocent Mujeri
The Harare Post has learnt of turmoil within the MDC Alliance as some members of that formation are now advocating for the leader of Transform Zimbabwe, Jacob Ngarivhume, to take over as the president of that party as they consider him to be more militant, mature and energetic than Nelson Chamisa.
A contact within the MDC Alliance who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity, said there is general consensus in the MDC Alliance that Chamisa is a weak leader who should be replaced as a matter of urgency.
“There is consensus in the MDC Alliance that Chamisa has failed to rise to expectations. Members are in agreement that the party needs a more militant, mature and aggressive leader, the qualities of which are few and far between in Chamisa. Some National Standing Committee (NSC) members are now in talks with Ngarivhume to abandon his little known party and fully join the MDC Alliance as its leader,” said the contact.
The contact said that save for being eloquent in speech, Chamisa has nothing meaningful to offer to the opposition outfit.
“Nero (Chamisa) is only eloquent in speech but weak in strategy. The MDC Alliance members are convinced that Chamisa has done more harm than good to the party. The party continues to fragment under his watch and our opposition politics has degenerated into student politics because of Chamisa’s immaturity. Maybe Ngarivhume might save the party from sinking into oblivion,” said the contact.
The same contact further revealed that Chamisa got wind of the plot to replace him with Ngarivhume as the leader of that formation and he was not amused.
Chamisa is believed to have labelled Ngarivhume a political novice who is now using the #31July2020 protests to re-gain his lost political relevance.
According to the contact, Chamisa confided in Charlton Hwende that he wishes that the #31July2020 demonstration flops because its success will present Ngarivhume as a vibrant leader than him.
The source further revealed that Chamisa has chosen to silently distance himself from the July 31 planned demonstrations and has since appointed Welshman Ncube to be the acting president.
“The appointment of Ncube as the acting president is Chamisa’s way of distancing himself from the planned #31July2020 protests. Chamisa wants the planned protest to flop so that he can plan other protests where he would be in charge. He doesn’t want the credit to be given to Ngarivhume, that’s why he has not publicly endorsed the protests because he is secretly praying for them to flop,” said the source.
The US Embassy and other foreign embassies are believed to be in support of Ngarivhume to take over the reins from Chamisa as they have lost faith in the latter.
Chamisa’s political life is hanging by the thread after the Supreme Court ruled in March that he was an illegitimate leader of the MDC. The judgement demoted Chamisa to his 2014 position of Secretary for Policy and Research.
However, Chamisa is still defiant that he is the leader of the MDC Alliance although members are deserting him en masse to join the Thokozani Khupe’s camp.
