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Prosper Ndlovu Deputy News Editor
MDC-T Bulawayo provincial chairman Gorden Moyo has resigned from his post citing failure of leadership and lack of direction in his party.He said he would remain an ordinary party member and Member of Parliament for Makokoba constituency non-aligned to either of the two factions battling for control of the beleaguered party.
Moyo resurfaced after a three month-long sabbatical yesterday to announce his disdain for the troubled MDC-T leadership, which has seen the party split into two camps, one aligned to party leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the other led by secretary general Tendai Biti that is calling for leadership renewal.
He told a Press briefing in Bulawayo that the infighting rocking the troubled opposition was a symptom of leadership failure after the party lost last year’s July 31 harmonised elections to Zanu-PF.
Moyo, once believed to be a close ally of Tsvangirai due to his links to donors, said he chose to resign than be part of a failed leadership.
“On this day, the 13th of June 2014, I, Gorden Moyo, am stepping down from the office of the chair of Bulawayo province with immediate effect,” he said.
“An angel of darkness has visited our party. We have been raped by a demon and become like the Tower of Babel, full of confusion. The MDC has ceased to prioritise serious issues of the state.”
Moyo, also Member of Parliament for Makokoba, said he had submitted his resignation letter to the secretary generals of both MDC factions.
“I can’t pretend there is one MDC and so for avoidance of doubt I wrote to both of them,” he said.
Moyo also said he met acting Bulawayo provincial chair, Dorcas Sibanda, and notified her of his resignation and his intention to remain an ordinary party member.
The former civic society activist once labelled a mafikizolo after he dribbled his way into party leadership ahead of founder members during the 2010 congress, said the MDC-T had betrayed the people of Zimbabwe and lost relevance in the country’s politics.
“The problem is leadership which has failed to handle the outcome of the 2013 poll. We are busy chasing lizards when crocodiles are against us. We are pushing a self destruction button,” he said adding, “Given circumstances in the current context, I find it difficult to operate in such an environment where we fight friends and not foes. Because of that I strongly believe this province needs a different type of leadership.”
Moyo bragged he was a “principled” leader who could not reduce himself to petty fights currently rocking the MDC-T and distanced himself from the ongoing skirmishes.
“My own competitiveness and skills are no longer relevant in this situation. What I don’t want is to implement decisions that I don’t believe in,” he said.
“I don’t care whether some will view this as cowardice. I simply don’t believe fragrance can solve Zimbabwe’s problems.”
Moyo said the MDC-T’s latest split was a replica of the 2005 split which gave birth to a faction led by Professor Welshman Ncube.
There was growing suspicion that Moyo was aligned to the Renewal Team which he dismissed yesterday but could not denounce Biti and his camp saying it was their “democratic right” to demand leadership change.
Moyo said he did not believe in splinter groups whether led by Tsvangirai or Biti but “a fragmented MDC-T was headed for more doom”.
“We failed to dislodge Zanu-PF as a united MDC, what more as a fragmented party?” said Moyo who declined to comment about the future of his party.
On whether he had planned to resign before going on leave Moyo said, “I was on leave and when I came back I found this”.
National organising secretary Nelson Chamisa said Moyo’s departure was not a surprise given that “he only joined the party just before the formation of the inclusive government in 2009”.
“That’s the normal life of a party. People choose to serve and not to serve. When the vehicle is moving some people jump out to safety at the slightest bump but we will get to the destination. It’s a comfortable development. It’s his democratic right,” said Chamisa. Sibanda confirmed meeting Moyo.
“Yes, we met this afternoon before he announced his resignation. We respect his decision especially since he will remain a party member,” she said.
“We will remain working. It will be business as usual.”
Online Reporter