THE MDC-T appears to have gone on an overdrive to discipline councillors it accuses of selling out to Zanu PF during recent mayoral elections.
MDC-T councillors in Victoria Falls, Gweru, Redcliff, Kwekwe and Mutare brewed a shocker last Monday when they voted in Zanu PF councillors for positions of mayors and deputy mayors.
The party alleged the councillors had been bribed to defy its caucus decisions where some names had been picked for the two positions in each of the towns.
MDC-T supporters in the affected towns now have to live with that betrayal for the next five years as those who benefited from the election were chosen lawfully.
However, without supporting the fingered councillors’ moves — who probably deserve the punishment for being unprincipled — it could be worthwhile to give the MDC-T leadership some free advice.
By expelling the councillors, the party could just be addressing a symptom of a deep rooted problem.
The move by the councillors could be a clear reflection that the top MDC-T leadership is losing its grip after the party’s dismal performance during the July 31 elections.
Instead of blaming Zanu PF for all its problems, MDC-T must start addressing the problems from within.
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If they cannot do the honourable action of self-introspection, the embarrassment and discontent within the party ranks will continue.
Firing mayors and councillors could temporarily save the headaches for the party leadership, but in the long run the problems will not go away.
The infighting in MDC-T could also see residents in the affected wards suffering from prolonged lack of service delivery because four months have already been lost due to the election processes that began in July.
By-elections would have to be held in the affected wards to replace the elected councillors and that means the areas would be in an election mode for almost half of the year.
The MDC-T needs to put its house in order urgently or the party will live to regret the procrastination over the obvious leadership crisis it is facing.
MDC-T should also ensure that residents do not suffer for its failure to enforce discipline among its ranks.
