adminZvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
The rift between MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and national executive member Mr Nelson Chamisa is consistent with the kind of bickering the opposition party has gone through since inception in 1999.
While the party managed to contain simmering discontent within its rank and file, it eventually imploded in October 2005 when Mr Tsvangirai tried to overturn a national council decision to go ahead and participate in Senate elections that had been necessitated by a constitutional amendment made by the Government to reintroduce a bicarmeral system as part of efforts to enhance checks and balances of the legislative arm.
This saw the first split of the party between Mr Tsvangirai and the then secretary-general Professor Welshman Ncube as the law professor accused the opposition leader of running the party through his “kitchen cabinet.”
One fundamental issue raised by Prof Ncube which also became a common feature in subsequent splits, was the allegation of violence levelled against Mr Tsvangirai.
In an interview on BBC’s HARDTalk programme in 2012, Prof Ncube accused the MDC-T of being a violent and corrupt party.
“(I have) absolutely nothing against the person of Morgan Tsvangirai.
“Our differences are about our political behaviours and the things we do as politicians.
“I keep underlining, it is on record that our colleagues in the MDC-T often practise violence; it is on record that Morgan Tsvangirai himself has reversed collectively-made decisions and it is also on record that the local government structures that they control have acted as corruptly if not more corruptly than the Zanu-PF ones. Those are the things which divide us,” he said
The split was, however, a tip of the deeply entrenched differences between Mr Tsvangirai and some of his lieutenants who included Prof Ncube.
Following the split, Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Senegal, Mrs Trudy Stevenson, then Harare North legislator was brutally assaulted in Mabvuku-Tafara by youths aligned to Mr Tsvangirai.
An inquiry commissioned by the party led by Harare lawyer Advocate Happious Zhou, now High Court judge, fingered rival youths as behind the assault on Mrs Stevenson who was left for dead.
Mrs Stevenson was one of senior party members that deserted Mr Tsvangirai alongside Prof Ncube to form what appeared to be a splinter group before transforming themselves into a fully fledged political party that managed to win parliamentary seats in the 2008 harmonised elections.
Prof Ncube accused Mr Tsvangirai of recalling party youths who were expelled after being fingered in violence at Harvest House.
Mr David Coltart also said his decision to align with Prof Ncube was influenced by the violent nature of the Tsvangirai led faction.
The MDC-T has also witnessed numerous cases of intra-party violence.
The Bulawayo congress in 2011 was marred by clashes between rival factions belonging to Mr Tsvangirai and secretary-general Tendai Biti.
Allegations of violence against the MDC-T leader were again to resurface last year before another split between Mr Tsvangirai on one hand and Mr Biti and deputy treasurer Mr Elton Mangoma on the other.
Mr Mangoma was savagely assaulted by pro-Tsvangirai youths at Harvest House for calling for leadership renewal following the crushing defeat of Mr Tsvangirai by President Mugabe in the July 31, 2013 harmonised elections.
Mr Mangoma had earlier written to Mr Tsvangirai urging him to step down citing reports of bed hopping that Mr Mangoma said tainted the image of the party, among a host of other allegations.
At the moment, a rift has emerged between Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Chamisa as the opposition leader is reportedly getting restless with the increasing influence of the youthful politician.
Mr Chamisa has become increasingly influential in the MDC-T as he reportedly wields power in important party organs such as the national executive and national council.
There were chaotic scenes at the late Nkulumane National Assembly member Mr Thamsanqa Mahlangu’s burial last month with rival MDC-T factions physically fighting for the late legislator’s body.
The chaos was further exacerbated by Mr Tsvangirai’s boycott of the burial despite the fact that he had flown to Bulawayo for the funeral wake.
Mr Tsvangirai remained holed up in a city hotel to avoid being caught in the violent melee.
Warring camps fought for turf as they sought to assert their influence on the funeral.
This resulted in people converging at three different venues, two in Luveve and one in Nkulumane.
The funeral wake in Luveve was held at Mr Mahlangu’s biological father’s home and another one at his grandmother’s while the Nkulumane funeral wake was held at the deceased’s stepfather’s house.
At one stage, the hearse driver had to speed off with the coffin during rowdy bickering by family members whose handlers were faction leaders in the MDC-T.
The rift between Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Chamisa has resulted in the opposition leader moving in to consolidate his influence to wade off the ever growing influence of the Kuwadzana East legislator while purging those aligned to his rivals.
Observers have said the two should either resolve their differences or part ways before the situation further deteriorates.
Mr Tsvangirai pushed the national council that met a fortnight ago to accept three legislators aligned to him into the organ along with his allies who either lost in 2014 party congress or general elections.
Mabvuku-Tafara MP Mr James Maridadi, Mutare Central legislator and chief whip, Mr Innocent Gonese and Matabeleland North Senator Rosemary Nyathi were included in the national council in what sources say was a consolidation of influence by Tsvangirai.
This comes as Mr Tsvangirai has pushed for the expulsion of Bulawayo Senator Matson Hlalo for allegedly defying a party directive to withdraw a court case in which he had sued the party over its decision preferring Mr Gift Banda to him as Bulawayo provincial chairperson.
Sen Hlalo risks being recalled from Parliament.
Mr Tsvangirai has also pushed to have five of his allies in the national executive.
They are Mr Blessing Chebundo, Tapiwa Mashakada (Hatfield MP) Matabeleland North proportional representative Dr Ruth Labode, Professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei and Mr Mathias Mlambo.
Online Reporter