The Herald
A RALLY called by MDC president Mr Morgan Tsvangirai at Somhlolo Stadium in Lupane yesterday failed to take off after the opposition leader and his entourage were chased away by party youths opposed to his decision to boycott Senate elections.
Highly placed sources in the MDC said a group of youths had “camped” at the stadium and were determined to stop Mr Tsvangirai from addressing party supporters.
They also said no one had turned up for the rally.
“I have been in touch with people on the ground in Lupane. Tsvangirai was sent scurrying when a group of youths came rushing to his car, threatening to beat him up. He was parked by the garage near the main Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway to gauge the mood of the people of Lupane, but before he could do anything, youths came running from the stadium and wanted to beat him up.
“When he (Mr Tsvangirai) saw them coming, he quickly jumped into his car and they sped away towards Bulawayo.
“Some of the youths caught lifts and followed the entourage up to St Luke’s to make sure that they didn’t come back to Lupane.
“The message to him was loud and clear: He is not welcome here in Matabeleland with his anti-Senate views,” said a high-ranking member of the MDC.
Mr Tsvangirai is on a tour of Matabeleland North to address party supporters and campaign for a boycott of the Senate polls scheduled for November 26.
However, Mr Tsvangirai’s spokesman, Mr William Bango, said his boss did not flee Lupane.
“There was no plan to address a rally in Lupane. The only rally was at Dete. After addressing that rally he (Mr Tsvangirai) left.
“One cannot just address a rally because according to POSA (Public Order and Security Act), you apply four to five days in advance. The organising office liaises with the district, in MDC the district is the constituency. If the district does not give a go-ahead, we do not go there,” he added.
However, a statement released by Mrs Sekai Holland – a senior member of the MDC and believed to be in Mr Tsvangirai’s faction – said four youths had been deployed from the party’s Bulawayo province to disrupt the MDC leader’s rallies in Matabeleland North.
Mrs Holland, who is a member of the MDC national executive committee, said the youths had told party supporters that Mr Tsvangirai’s rallies in Victoria Falls, Hwange and other venues in the province had been cancelled.
“The situation which developed while they (Tsvangirai’s entourage) were traveling from Harare was that four youths were deployed from Bulawayo province by the MDC pro-Senate group to go door-to-door telling MDC members in the areas where the rallies were organised, that (party) president Tsvangirai’s meetings were cancelled as he was unable to attend.
“The claim from the MDC Matabeleland North leadership is that the local MDC Member of Parliament’s home was used as the operational base for these youths to inform his constituency wrong data during the door-to-door rounds on Saturday evening.
“He had advised others that he could not attend the rally as he was attending the rally in Gwanda to be addressed by the (MDC) vice president (Mr Gibson Sibanda). There was apparently no rally held in Gwanda on that day.
“When the (party) president arrived he was faced with this crisis. The majority of the Matabeleland North MDC committee structures attended an emergency meeting with their national council representative, provincial chairperson and the youth assembly and women’s assembly provincial committees to brief the president and his delegation on events that had taken place while they were traveling to the rally. Around 4am corrective measures resulting from this consultation were taken. People began to travel to the venue earlier than other times as soon as they heard that the MDC president had arrived in Victoria Falls.
“The rally was, as all MDC rallies, exciting and this time a bonding of the party since this traumatic crisis broke out into the public domain. Bulawayo province members traveled to Matabeleland North to stand in solidarity with the Matabeleland North membership. The rally speeches were on the same theme: the reminder of the party message, its values and principles and these were reflected in the songs that the crowd sang. There was also the demand that the leadership unite, to unite the party to the party congress,” she said.
Mrs Holland said the four youths also disrupted the Hwange rally.
“The Hwange section of the journey was problematic. The four youths from Bulawayo province had also gone onto Hwange district and told people that the (party) president’s rally was cancelled. The permit was denied which meant that the rally was held at Mpumalanga, 15km from the publicised venue. Two buses were required to ferry those attending the rally to the new venue, but many walked to the rally. The rally was, in spite of these handicaps, also well attended with morale high.
“The (MDC) president’s party today continues his rally tour of Matabeleland North.
“The numbers who attended are estimated to be 4 000 to 5 000 at each rally,” she said.
However, sources in Matabaleland North said the Hwange rally was attended by between 130 and 150 people only, while a head count at the Victoria Falls rally showed that only 52 people had turned up.
Mr Tsvangirai is on a nationwide tour aimed at swaying party supporters to back his call for a boycott of the Senate elections.
The MDC has split into factions – one led by Mr Tsvangirai and other headed by secretary general Professor Welshman Ncube, which favours participation in the poll. Meanwhile, the opposition party maybe headed for a final split amid reports that the faction led by Prof Ncube is considering approaching the courts to rein in the militant faction led by beleaguered party leader Mr Tsvangirai.
Highly placed sources at Harvest House, the party’s headquarters, told The Herald that Mr Tsvangirai’s flagrant violation of the party constitution and his attempt to have the decision of the national council vetoed by last Saturday’s meeting has convinced the Ncube-led faction to seek legal recourse to end the crisis.
The Herald understands that the pro-participation camp feels that it will prevail over Mr Tsvangirai’s as it has the backing of the party constitution and legally binding party organs.
MDC secretary for legal affairs Mr David Coltart said he was not aware of the issue while Mr Bango said he would only be in a position to comment after seeing the court papers. — Byo Bureau/HR.