Political Reporter

MDC Alliance Secretary General, Charlton Hwende has been sucked in the infighting currently bedeviling that party’s Bulawayo provincial structures with reports insinuating that he endorsed the overhauling of the provincial security team without consulting other members.

In a letter in possession of this publication written by Hwende to Bulawayo’s provincial secretary, Ernest Rafamoyo, Hwende affirms the appointment of the new provincial security team to replace the one led by Exmas Chineunye.

“The office of the Secretary General affirms the secondment of the following personnel for Bulawayo Province security team. Henry Mwadira is the new Provincial Security Officer and would be deputized by Obrey Sibanda. Phineas Matenga is confirmed as the new Provincial Intelligence Officer,” reads Hwende’s letter.

The new security appointments are to replace Chineunye, Danisa Khumalo and Tauya Vangani who allegedly belong to the national chairperson Thabitha Khumalo’s faction.

However, an impeccable source said the previous security team was disputing the appointment of the new security team and were accusing Hwende of siding with the Welshman Ncube faction that is reportedly causing chaos in Bulawayo.

“The appointment of the new security team is null and void as the letter purportedly written by Hwende had no date stamp or even his signature. Instead, someone signed the letter on his behalf. We know that they want to remove the current security team and replace it with members of the Kensington cabal. The new appointments are the latest machinations by the Kensington cabal to consolidate power within the party,” said the source.

The source added that the National Director for Security, Washington Gaga was not informed of the changes in the security team and added that under normal circumstances, Gaga was the one who was supposed to confirm the appointments not Hwende.

The source added that the changes were instigated by embattled chairperson, James Sithole and his faction as they view Chineunye as an ally of Khumalo and Helen Zivira.

However, the youths led by their provincial chairperson, Tinashe Kambarami are disputing the appointment of a new security team and have since threatened to stage demonstrations until the appointments are reversed.

The MDC Alliance is embroiled in factional fights pitting Chamisa and the Maruva/Kensington cabal led by Tendai Biti, Welshaman Ncube and Hwende who view Chamisa as a weak leader who can’t be trusted with the leadership of the opposition movement.