Mwonzora Responds To Khupe's Presser
Opposition MDC-T leader, Douglas Mwonzora has said the party was experiencing “very low turbulence which is caused by one person” in an apparent reference to ousted party vice president Thokozani Khupe.
He made the remarks during an Open Parly Zimbabwe’s Twitter space this Saturday.
Mwonzora recently suspended Khupe pending investigation over a number of issues including indiscipline but Khupe immediately declared that she was the new leader of the party.
He said the party intends to proceed with its congress as scheduled but some leaders including Khupe want to postpone it.
Mwonzora also said five people from Matabeleland provinces had expressed interest in replacing Khupe as the party’s vice president. He added:
It appears to me that there was a lot of anger at vice president Khupe’s press conference. In terms of our party, MDC-T, there is no provision for one to declare a split.
The bases of her thinking that I joined another party is that most of our MPs are under the banner of a conglomerate of 7 political parties. I wrote to ZEC reminding them of our position of the name we used in 2018.
When Khupe took over as the president of the MDC-T, she became the president of MDC- Alliance just like what Nelson Chamisa did when he was the president now that I’m the president of MDC-T I’m now the leader of Alliance.
Speaking during Friday’s press conference, Khupe declared a split of the party into two formations. She said:
… It is in this vein that today, we, who are gathered here and many others scattered around the country, declare an official split.
There are now two MDC-T formations, one led by yours truly, Dr Thokozani Khupe, who is also the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and the other who I don’t know who their leader is.
Khupe said Mwonzora had expelled himself from the party after claiming that he was also the leader of the MDC Alliance.
