‘MDC-T leadership corrupt’

The group also said the party had failed to ensure full implementation of the Global Political Agreement it signed with Zanu-PF and the other MDC formation.

“Our monthly action forum concluded, almost unanimously that the MDC was unlikely to be in charge after the next election,” the group said in a statement.

“There are many reasons for this, of course, not least the prospect of Zanu-PF skullduggery, but speakers felt that the MDC had lost the trust of many people whose support it had taken for granted — partly because its leaders were tainted by corruption.

“The expulsion from the party of the Harare Deputy Mayor, Emmanuel Chiroto, and disciplinary action against a number of councillors from other local authorities was welcomed but, at the same time, confirmed the perception that many party officials had joined the Zanu-PF ‘looting frenzy’.”

The MDC fired 12 councillors from the party last week on corruption charges while 13 others were reprimanded.

The party also said it would carry out further audits within the higher echelons of the party following massive allegations of corruption among the party’s officials in public bodies.

Added the statement: “There was puzzlement why the MDC had simply given up on what it had said were key issues three-and-a-half years ago: the positions of (Central Bank Governor Gideon) Gono and (Attorney General Johannes) Tomana and President Robert Mugabe’s refusal to swear in Roy Bennett and MDC governors etc. Their main interest now seemed to be how much money they could make.”

“We at the Vigil don’t doubt the confusion of the MDC. After all (Finance Minister) Tendai Biti has been touring the world expressing his admiration for (President) Mugabe and saying how the economy is poised to power ahead.

“Yet now he tells a luxurious conference at the Victoria Falls that Zimbabwe has a per capita income of about $320 — scarcely half the amount considered to be the poverty line. He went on to point out that 37 percent of the population had no clean water, 45 percent no access to lavatories and less than 50 percent access to electricity.”

MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora, however, disputed the claim saying they remained the most popular party.

“The MDC-T is the most popular party in the land and the most people centred party in the land.

“We are the only party that has tackled corruption head on as evidenced by our bold move to remove corrupt officials from council. The people of Zimbabwe are not foolish and will see for themselves but whether it will work against us (exposing corrupt officials) we do not mind as long as we ensure that people are not shortchanged by the leadership purporting to be MDC-T representatives,” he said.

Mr Mwonzora said the Zimbabwe Vigil could also be mistaken because they were not on the ground to assess issues first hand.

Zimbabwe Virgil’s damning assessment of the MDC-T electoral chances comes after another survey by US-based group Freedom House also showed that the party had suffered a huge collapse in support over the last few years.

The survey showed that support for the MDC-T had fallen from 38 percent in 2010 to 20 percent this year while support for Zanu-PF grew to 31 percent from 17 percent, over the same period.

The survey also found that President Mugabe would command the support of 31 percent of voters in a presidential election, compared to 19 percent for MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The survey said Zanu-PF had clear programmes such as the land reform and other empowerment programmes to sell to the electorate while the “Change” mantra pushed by the MDC-T had lost steam.

MDC-T officials have, however, questioned the validity of the survey findings.

The Zimbabwe Vigil is one of a number of the so-called pro-democracy and Western funded groups in the Diaspora that have in the past made unsubstantiated claims against the Zimbabwe Government and its officials especially from Zanu-PF as part of the wider regime change agenda.

They have conducted demonstrations at the Zimbabwe Embassy in the UK since 2002.

Some of its members heckled Prime Minister Tsvangirai soon after the formation of the inclusive Government when he urged them to return home and join the reconstruction of the economy devastated by illegal sanctions induced recession.