By Fungi Kwaramba HARARE - A mere six months after the controversial emergence of former MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti’s renewal team, ...
By Fungi Kwaramba
HARARE - A mere six months after the controversial emergence of former MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti’s renewal team, the faction is already disintegrating, amid further revelations that donor funds to the rebels are also drying up fast.
Tendai Biti addressing members of his faction in Harare
A top renewal team member who spoke to the Daily News yesterday in an exclusive interview said a lack of support from supporters, coupled with dwindling finances, as well as a bruising battle for the leadership of the rebel movement has resulted in debilitating divisions and mistrust within the top leadership of the group.
The well-placed source, whose name the Daily News is withholding at his request to protect him, also said: “The bulk of Western backers are pushing for re-unification talks with MT (Tsvangirai).”
He said efforts within the camp aimed at turning it into a political party that enjoyed significant support among Zimbabweans had been stymied by infighting, which had caused growing and irreparable divisions within the movement.
There were also sharp internal differences on whether the rebels should drop the “MDC” moniker or come up with a new name.
As a result, foreign donors who had anticipated overwhelming support for the renewal team from the grassroots were now pushing for unity talks with Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC president, as it dawned on them that the former premier still enjoyed a massive political following in the country.
Amid the widespread belief that last year’s national elections had been rigged, Tsvangirai still amassed more than one million votes, also giving a clear indication that his personal brand was bigger than the MDC name.
While Biti and Mangoma were unreachable yesterday, Jacob Mafume, spokesperson of the renewal team, claimed that their camp was in fact getting stronger.
“There is nothing that has been holding us back. We have increased the numbers and we are having more members from the provinces,” Mafume told the Daily News.
“We have held meetings with various parties and announcements will be made at the appropriate times.”
On the deepening confusion around whether the rebels’ party will remain MDC or will be re-christened, Mafume said: “The rebranding will take place at the right time and we are going to consult the people on the name,” all but implying that his party was looking for a new name.
The senior party member who spoke to the Daily News yesterday also said that their perceived links to Zanu PF were also haunting the young party, causing some members to abandon it.
However, Mafume scoffed at reports about the alleged resignations within the break away team.
In the meantime, it has also been reported that the rebels have also failed to garner support from other opposition parties for their mooted grand coalition, with the likes of Lovemore Madhuku, leader of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Simba Makoni’s MKD, and Dumiso Dabengwa’s Zapu refusing to rubber stamp the idea.
As a result, Biti’s camp was said to be struggling to hold its much-hyped “All People’s Convention,” that was initially slated for last month.
Madhuku told the Daily News recently that he would only join a coalition after elections which were critical in gauging the support of individual political parties and consequently the compositions of the intended coalitions.
On the other hand, Makoni cautioned Biti and company against the urge to rush the idea and exclude Tsvangirai.
Despite the set-backs, other insiders in Biti’s camp insist that there is a determined push by the former Finance minister to forge ahead with the coalition project, despite the lack of buy-in from other parties and donors.
“There is no real interest from the others, save for Welshman (Ncube),” said a source in the party.
“And, we have put ourselves into a dead end by being indecisive on whether we are leaving the MDC or not. “Some diplomats and funders have asked us to launch the party but the leaders are hesitating for obvious reasons. So the coalition project has been pre-empted by the paralysis and failure to progress.”
The renewal team was formed after its leaders recently passed a vote of no confidence in Tsvangirai.
The faction also claimed to have suspended Tsvangirai from the MDC, amid allegations that the party had been “transformed into a fiefdom of the MDC leader”.
Tsvangirai dismissed the meeting as “illegal, unconstitutional, illegitimate and bogus”, and went on to summarily dismiss the rebels from the MDC.
The divisions in the MDC followed its defeat in the 2013 elections, amid claims of gross irregularities in those polls. Daily News
HARARE - A mere six months after the controversial emergence of former MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti’s renewal team, the faction is already disintegrating, amid further revelations that donor funds to the rebels are also drying up fast.
Tendai Biti addressing members of his faction in Harare
A top renewal team member who spoke to the Daily News yesterday in an exclusive interview said a lack of support from supporters, coupled with dwindling finances, as well as a bruising battle for the leadership of the rebel movement has resulted in debilitating divisions and mistrust within the top leadership of the group.
The well-placed source, whose name the Daily News is withholding at his request to protect him, also said: “The bulk of Western backers are pushing for re-unification talks with MT (Tsvangirai).”
He said efforts within the camp aimed at turning it into a political party that enjoyed significant support among Zimbabweans had been stymied by infighting, which had caused growing and irreparable divisions within the movement.
There were also sharp internal differences on whether the rebels should drop the “MDC” moniker or come up with a new name.
As a result, foreign donors who had anticipated overwhelming support for the renewal team from the grassroots were now pushing for unity talks with Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC president, as it dawned on them that the former premier still enjoyed a massive political following in the country.
Amid the widespread belief that last year’s national elections had been rigged, Tsvangirai still amassed more than one million votes, also giving a clear indication that his personal brand was bigger than the MDC name.
While Biti and Mangoma were unreachable yesterday, Jacob Mafume, spokesperson of the renewal team, claimed that their camp was in fact getting stronger.
“There is nothing that has been holding us back. We have increased the numbers and we are having more members from the provinces,” Mafume told the Daily News.
“We have held meetings with various parties and announcements will be made at the appropriate times.”
On the deepening confusion around whether the rebels’ party will remain MDC or will be re-christened, Mafume said: “The rebranding will take place at the right time and we are going to consult the people on the name,” all but implying that his party was looking for a new name.
The senior party member who spoke to the Daily News yesterday also said that their perceived links to Zanu PF were also haunting the young party, causing some members to abandon it.
However, Mafume scoffed at reports about the alleged resignations within the break away team.
In the meantime, it has also been reported that the rebels have also failed to garner support from other opposition parties for their mooted grand coalition, with the likes of Lovemore Madhuku, leader of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Simba Makoni’s MKD, and Dumiso Dabengwa’s Zapu refusing to rubber stamp the idea.
As a result, Biti’s camp was said to be struggling to hold its much-hyped “All People’s Convention,” that was initially slated for last month.
Madhuku told the Daily News recently that he would only join a coalition after elections which were critical in gauging the support of individual political parties and consequently the compositions of the intended coalitions.
On the other hand, Makoni cautioned Biti and company against the urge to rush the idea and exclude Tsvangirai.
Despite the set-backs, other insiders in Biti’s camp insist that there is a determined push by the former Finance minister to forge ahead with the coalition project, despite the lack of buy-in from other parties and donors.
“There is no real interest from the others, save for Welshman (Ncube),” said a source in the party.
“And, we have put ourselves into a dead end by being indecisive on whether we are leaving the MDC or not. “Some diplomats and funders have asked us to launch the party but the leaders are hesitating for obvious reasons. So the coalition project has been pre-empted by the paralysis and failure to progress.”
The renewal team was formed after its leaders recently passed a vote of no confidence in Tsvangirai.
The faction also claimed to have suspended Tsvangirai from the MDC, amid allegations that the party had been “transformed into a fiefdom of the MDC leader”.
Tsvangirai dismissed the meeting as “illegal, unconstitutional, illegitimate and bogus”, and went on to summarily dismiss the rebels from the MDC.
The divisions in the MDC followed its defeat in the 2013 elections, amid claims of gross irregularities in those polls. Daily News
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