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Tafara Shumba
Since Friday last week, Zimbabweans, save for a handful of sycophants in the MDC-T national council, have been struggling to understand the reasons behind Elton Mangoma’s suspension. The MDC-T’s statement on the same did not do justice to the questions.
The unconstitutional suspension and subsequent reasons that failed to add up gave credence to the axiom that if a leopard wants to eat its young ones, it first accuses them of smelling like goats.
MDC-T spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora, has been sweating to defend the undemocratic position that his faction was misled to take.
The reasons that formed the basis for the suspension of the MDC-T’s deputy treasurer-general are too expensive to buy.
Mangoma’s opinion on leadership renewal is within the bounds of democracy and does not in any way warrant such a barbaric reaction.
Whatever reasons the Tsvangirai faction wants to sell to the people, one does not need to be clever to see that Mangoma was unconstitutionally bounced from the party for expressing his democratic opinion about his beleaguered party.
He expressed that opinion on the assumption that his party upholds the democratic principles it publicly preaches.
What a careless assumption.
While I am not a legal fundi to delve into the legality of the suspension, the party’s secretary-general, Tendai Biti, and another lawyer in the beleaguered party, Jacob Mafume, pointed out the anomalies that marred the whole process.
What happened on the day of shame is diametrically opposed to what the party touts itself to be.
Members of the national council present did not constitute a quorum.
The accused was not given the opportunity to present his side of the story, and the composition of the council was grossly manipulated, with some members receiving their suspension letters just before the meeting.
Thus, those who are saying the suspension is null and void are well informed.
The suspension of Mangoma exposed the selective use of the party constitution for expediency. Several members of the embattled party, including its president, have in the past violated the same provisions with impunity.
Democracy dictates that the law must be applied evenly.
One of the charges preferred against Mangoma is that of putting the party’s name into disrepute.
The how part of it is contentious but what we know is that Mr Tsvangirai himself is guilty of the same offence in a more serious manner for that matter.
The MDC-T president, who now wants to play holier-than-thou, was involved in embarrassing sex scandals with several women, some of whom were married while others were young enough to be his granddaughters.
He lived large in a sea of poverty and at a time his party was being blamed for not increasing civil servants’ salaries for the whole year.
Against the prevailing economic meltdown which he promised to fix on entering the inclusive Government, he could afford a trip to New York to celebrate his belated birthday.
He could afford to pay US$36 000 in bride price for Locadia Karimatsenga-Tembo, whom he later divorced within 12 daus before paying US$300 000 in an out of court settlement.
Such profligacy cost the party dearly in the harmonised elections.
Mr Tsvangirai was never reprimanded despite soiling the party’s reputation to that magnitude.
It is against this backdrop that those with the MDC-T at heart are suggesting that he pave way for a cleaner leader. They are conscious of the damage that Tsvangirai caused.
It is fresh in people’s minds how Mr Tsvangirai dragged the party’s name into the mud through his double dipping scandal.
The scandal became a trump card for rival parties and it indeed paid dividends.
Mangoma was also accused of disrespecting the protocol of the party. Tsvangirai himself never respected the protocol of the party. He has been unilaterally suspending and dismissing officials suspected to be in support of the renewal project. The secretary-general of the party, according to its constitution, must baby-sit such issues.
Even the National Council that was bounced to suspend Mangoma failed to respect protocol. The secretary general’s office was supposed to craft the charges but was never involved.
We have also seen Tsvangirai taking aim even at some provincial leaders such as Sengezo Tshabangu of Matabeleland North, Julias Magarangoma and Pishai Muchauraya of Manicaland for taking the factional war to Facebook.
Obert Gutu and Chalton Hwende have been fighting from Tsvangirai’s corner on the same platform.
They even threw worse abusive words on Facebook than these suspended provincial leaders.
Online Reporter