Political tension rises in Byo

Politics
The intra-party conflicts in the MDC-T camp have reached unprecedented levels with some senior members alleging that their lives are under threat from other party members, a Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) report has alleged.

The intra-party conflicts in the MDC-T camp have reached unprecedented levels with some senior members alleging that their lives are under threat from other party members, a Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) report has alleged.

By Phyllis Mbanje

The report said leadership wrangles have once again sucked in MDC-T deputy president Thokozani Khupe who is accused of being at the centre of intra-party clashes in Bulawayo.

Acting MDC-T Bulawayo provincial chairperson Dorcas Sibanda who is also the Member of Parliament for Bulawayo Central, was said to be living in fear after some unknown persons smashed windows at her house and wrote hate graffiti in explicit language.

Some of the messages which were reproduced in the ZPP report branded her a woman of loose morals while some denounced her position.

“You will never chair this province … this is your first warning!” read one of the messages.

ZPP said the acting chairperson was convinced that the youths who broke her windows and wrote the messages were aligned to Khupe and were allegedly acting on her instructions.

The attacks, she claimed, were aimed at forcing her to give up her acting post and make way for deputy mayor Gift Banda who is Khupe’s alleged favourite for the provincial chairmanship post.

“I now live in fear for my life and that of my children” she said.

Khupe, who has previously been accused of fanning factionalism and tribalism in Bulawayo, in April refuted the allegations which she described as baseless and a fabrication.

She distanced herself from the turmoil and said her party promoted democracy and would never tolerate violence.

Efforts to get her to comment on the allegations raised by Sibanda proved effortless as both her numbers were not reachable.

Meanwhile, two days before Africa Day, Sibanda was jeered by party supporters during a rally in Makokoba.

She had to abandon her speech as the marauding crowd continued to shout expressing their displeasure.