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Temba Dube Senior Reporter
FORMER Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Mr Amen Mpofu yesterday accused MDC-T provincial organising secretary, Mr Albert Mhlanga, of being a mole sent to initiate another split in the party, as the intra party discord over mayoral positions deepens.Mr Mpofu was fuming over Mr Mhlanga’s comments on Thursday, that Bulawayo Province would not recognise the results of an election conducted on Wednesday to choose Bulawayo’s next mayor.
The city’s councillors chose Councillor Martin K Moyo of Ward 3 as the next mayor and Clr Earnest Rafamoyo as his deputy.
MDC-T secretary for local government, Mr Blessing Chebundo, presided over the elections at the party’s provincial headquarters, following the dismissal by the High Court of an urgent chamber application by the party, seeking to compel Government to accept the nomination of non-councillors as mayors.
“Mhlanga is now painfully getting on our nerves. He must stop behaving like a mad person, with immediate effect. He should not allow himself to be used like a tissue. Mhlanga should not forget that when the party split, he was the first to use unprintable profanities to insult President Tsvangirai. Maybe he has been planted to initiate another split,” said an emotional Mr Mpofu.
He said Mr Mhlanga was allowing some people, he did not name, to use him to sow disharmony in MDC-T.
“Bulawayo belongs to all of us. It is not a preserve for one man or a clique. Mhlanga is behaving like a wounded bull in a china shop, smashing everything the party stands for. How can he unilaterally declare elections that are recognised by the national leadership, as null and void?
I was one of the people delegated to run those elections. He must come out clean about his agenda, or that of his masters,” said Mr Mpofu.
The outspoken former deputy mayor said people in the party were beginning to lose respect for Mr Mhlanga.
“He must mend his ways or there will be thunder when we finally lose all respect for him. Who is he to be always making noise in the party? It is very shocking that a person of his calibre, a former councillor and deputy mayor, should behave so divisively,” said Mr Mpofu.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Mr Mhlanga said it was unfortunate that his comment had been misinterpreted.
“I see no problem with my comment because it is true that I was not aware of the meeting. I respect Mpofu and his view. It is very unfortunate that the issue is turning out this way,” said Mr Mhlanga.
He said his concern was that the people of Bulawayo should be respected.
“If we mishandle this important issue, the ghost of Mthwakazi shall surely rise and sit at council,” said Mr Mhlanga.
MDC-T has been battling internal strife since the leadership decided to impose mayors who were not elected councillors.
Members have celebrated the Government’s decision not to allow non councillors to be appointed as mayors. They have said they support the High Court ruling.
In Bulawayo, party leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai had imposed National University of Science and Technology lecturer Dr Mandla Nyathi.
He had nominated Mr Obert Gutu as Harare mayor and Mr Thomas Muzuva, as his deputy.
In Chitungwiza, he had chosen Mr Isaac Manyemba. The appointments have been reversed after the party’s case was thrown out of the Electoral Court, before the dismissal of by the High Court on Wednesday.
The party has since announced it has “provisionally” chosen Mr Manyenyenye as Harare mayor and Mr Philip Mutoti as mayor for Chitungwiza.
MDC-T youths have reportedly written a petition questioning the party’s internal democratic systems and processes, including the imposition of mayoral candidates.
Senior officials in the party have been quoted in the Press alleging there was tension after Mr Tsvangirai began to directly appoint mayors, their deputies and chairpersons of committees in different cities and towns where the party won.
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