Standard
By Nqaba Matshazi
19 December 2010
THE red carpet has all but been rolled out for Welshman Ncube, who is now set to assume the presidency of the smaller faction of the MDC without a contest.
Incumbent leader, Arthur Mutambara pulled out of the race after the Harare province endorsed Ncube’s candidacy amid revelations that 11 out of the 12 provinces were in favour of the secretary general’s ascendancy.
Mutambara says he pulled out of the presidential race to avoid divisions within his party, but there are revelations that the robotics professor saw that the writing was on the wall at a national council meeting nearly a fortnight ago.
The MDC-M leader is reported to even have failed to get an endorsement from Manicaland, his home province, a development that irked Mutambara.
Before Mutambara threw in the towel, calls had been made to have him to take up the vice-presidency, which has been vacant since the death of Gibson Sibanda in August.
“For the sake of unity and continuity, Mutambara had been tipped to become the vice-president,†the source continued.
It was not immediately clear why he turned down the offer, instead electing to be “an ordinary member†of the party.
MDC-M has since banned all its members from making pronouncements on its congress, which will be held next February.
The party’s Harare provincial executive council met on Friday and nominated leaders for positions, with Ncube being nominated for the presidency.
Party spokesperson Edwin Mushoriwa was nominated for the vice- presidency while Goodrich Chimbaira was nominated to be the chairman.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga was nominated to be the secretary general with Moses Mzila being her deputy.
Paul Themba Nyathi was nominated to take the treasurer general’s position with Theresa Marimazhira being his deputy.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart, who is the faction’s secretary for legal affairs, does not feature on the nomination list.