Political Reporter
MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa is on a gradual mission to demote from active politics, all party lieutenants who were close to the former late leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.
A source who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity said that Chamisa had no trust with people who were Tsvangirai’s loyalists and he was on a mission to weed them out of that party’s National Standing Committee (NSC) and other influential positions before 2023.
“Chamisa is a sceptical person. He sees shadows everywhere and this is the reason he don’t trust members who worked closely with Tsvangirai. He has a belief that these members do not genuinely love him and they might be plotting his downfall. To protect himself from a possible coup in the forthcoming presidential elections and party congress, he is now on a mission to remove from influential positions all members who worked closely with his predecessor,” said the source.
The source added that the appointment of Fadzayi Mahere as that party’s national spokesperson and Charlton Hwende as secretary general as well as Gift Siziba as deputy spokesperson, ahead of some senior deserving members, was a sign that Chamisa had no trust in the party’s old horses.
“All things being equal, Mahere should not have been the MDC Alliance’s spokesperson considering that she only joined the party after the 2018 elections. She was only appointed on that position because Chamisa was building his own political empire using his former university colleagues and age mates as the pillars. The likes of Thabitah Khumalo, Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti will soon be swept aside as Chamisa wants to remodel the opposition party by appointing the young blood to influential positions,” said the source.
The same source further said that Chamisa was pushing for old senior members to relinquish active party positions and be accommodated in the Council of Elders. The source added that Chamisa was contemplating creating a structure similar to ZANU PF’s National Consultative Assembly (NCA) and he wants that structure to accommodate members he might have relegated from active party politics.
Efforts to get a comment from Mahere or her deputy, Siziba were futile as their mobile phones were not reachable.
