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Joseph Madzimure
Senior Reporter
The MDC-T led by Dr Thokozani Khupe yesterday held its inaugural national standing committee meeting at Morgan Tsvangirai House, days after reclaiming the headquarters from MDC-Alliance led by Mr Nelson Chamisa.
Many MDC-T veterans, including founding leader the late Mr Morgan Tsvangirai’s brother Manasa, attended the meeting where some senior positions were filled through co-option.
Manasa was appointed as MDC-T secretary for elections.
Other members co-opted into the national standing committee were Mr Elias Mudzuri, as deputy national chairperson, Mr Gift Chimanikire (deputy national organising secretary), Mr Abednico Bhebhe (national organising secretary) and Mr Shakespeare Mukoyi, interim youth assembly leader.
“The MDC-T you know is here today,” said Dr Khupe.
“We are standing now on our toes. We are rearing to go. Our desire is to make sure that we are an opposition which is ready to build the country. We want to make sure that Zimbabweans have a better life.”
Manasa joins a growing list of family members of the Tsvangirai family, who include Vincent, who is the MP for Glen View South, who have since dumped Mr Chamisa.
In March, the Supreme Court ruled that under MDC-T rules, Chamisa assumed the leadership of the opposition party illegally in 2018 and pronounced Dr Khupe as the interim president pending an extraordinary congress, in line with the party’s constitution.
After taking control of the MDC-T, Dr Khupe’s camp went on to recall four MPs who won their seats on the MDC-A ticket, but who were originally nominated by the MDC-T to contest the elections.
The High Court at the end of last month found that the MDC-A was not a legal entity, but just an electoral pact by a group of political parties, which retained their previous existence.
Dr Khupe confirmed that they had officially occupied their headquarters, which was a bone of contention with Chamisa’s faction since the demise of Mr Tsvangirai.
“We are here at Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House today,” she said.
“We are now working from the Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House.
“We have been founded on the foundation of non-discrimination, we have been founded on the foundation of constitutionalism, we have been founded on the foundation of non-violence.
“We met here as a leadership to say let us reflect on what happened and lets us correct our mistakes because in life, it is important that when you make a mistake you must admit that you have made the mistake and to use those mistakes as a stepping stone to success.”
Dr Khupe challenged the party’s parliamentarians to attend Parliament sessions in order to serve the electorate.
“We have returned to our founding ideal values and principles of the MDC-T,” she said.
“We are going to make sure that whatever we do, we do according to our values.”
Secretary-general Mr Douglas Mwonzora said they would not hesitate to recall MPs and councillors who had joined the MDC-Alliance.
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