Political Reporter

…..as James Sithole faces expulsion from the party

Amid chaos and continued infighting within the MDC-Alliance Bulawayo Provincial structures, that party’s Bulawayo’s chaplains department has called upon all rival factions to bury the hatchet and smoke a peace pipe.

A letter gleaned by this publication written by one Pastor Obert Manduna from the MDC-Alliance’s Chaplains Division, reminded party members that they should pull in one direction for the sake of their party.

“Calvary and revolutionary greetings MDC Alliance Bulawayo Province leadership. I hope, trust and pray that I find you all in good spirits. It is my humble request that we exhibit a sense of togetherness, oneness and unity of purposes as we are one family under the banner of our brand, visionary and torch bearer Pastor Nelson Chamisa.

“I kindly request that leaders bury the hatchet in whatever personal or political differences they might have and pull in the same direction as change enablers,” wrote Manduna.

However, a source within the Bulawayo MDC-A structures said Manduna’s letter was meant to save that party’s Provincial chairperson, James Sithole, who is facing expulsion from the party for wining and dining with the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T.

“Everyone knows that Manduna is an ally of Sithole and by calling the leaders to bury the hatchet, he is trying to cover the back of his friend who is facing an imminent expulsion from the party. The party’s security department has looked into Sithole’s allegations and they have recommended his expulsion from the party. We do not want sellouts among us,” fumed the source.

The source added that if the Chaplains Department was for peace, they should support the peaceful removal of Sithole as the provincial chairperson because his continued stay at the helm is irritating people and might cause people to violently demonstrate against him.

Sithole is being accused of attending MDC-T clandestine meetings as well as badmouthing Chamisa. The embattled provincial leader, who is denying the charges, is believed to have vowed to resist any machinations to expel him and has since threatened to spill the MDC-Alliance’s secrets to the public if expelled.

Last week, nine out of 12 MDC-A Bulawayo’s Constituency Coordinating Committee (CCC) chairpersons, signed a petition advocating for the expulsion of Sithole as the provincial leader. However, at a caucus meeting, the MDC-A co vice leader Welshman Ncube vetoed the expulsion of Sithole and urged warring factions to amicably solve their differences.

The Harare Post is reliably informed that the MDC-A Bulawayo Province’s Organizing Secretary and recalled Senator, Helen Zivira, was vigorously pushing for the expulsion of Sithole for his alleged loyalty to the MDC-T.

Zivira is pushing the narrative that Sithole was Mwonzora’s puppet in the MDC-A, hence he was not recalled like what happened to other Bulawayo legislators like Gideon Shoko, Spiwe Ncube and Zivira.

This is not the first time that a party member was suspected of being sympathetic to a rival party due to perceived soft treatment. Nelson Chamisa was also accused of being a ZANU PF project because he has never been arrested.