SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
Candidates from different political parties on Friday submitted their names to the nomination court, as Zimbabwe takes another step towards elections.
The build up to the election has been full of high drama, starting with the disputed election date unilaterally declared by President Robert Mugabe.
Then came the parties’ primary elections, which were characterised by complaints of factionalism, corruption and violence, especially in ZANU PF and the MDC-T.
On Friday, with the nomination court in session throughout the country, there were reports that some disgruntled MDC-T members have decided to stand as independents.
Already in Bulawayo, outgoing MDC-T Member of Parliament for Magwegwe, Felix Mafa Sibanda, confirmed filing his papers as an independent.
Mafa was pitted against Anele Ndebele during the MDC-T primaries and he was announced on the party’s website as having won the election. However a few days later, that decision was rescinded, with Ndebele sailing through.
There are fears that numbers of people standing as independents will likely to split the MDC-T vote, at a time when analysts already predict another run-off, with the poll producing no outright winner.
Speaking to SW Radio Africa, Mafa said he is disappointed that his party had failed to stem the factionalism fanned by Parastatals Minister Gorden Moyo and Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe.
He said: “It is regrettable that the leadership of the party we formed under difficult conditions where people were being raped, killed and maimed is eating its own children.
“The Bulawayo leadership, under the stewardship of Gorden Moyo, has been infiltrated by intelligence operatives so much so that the old guard of the MDC-T is being discarded. Moyo is replacing us with his former members of (the defunct) ZAPU 2000, and his former mates in the civil society movement, especially Bulawayo Agenda and the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association.”
Mafa said the constituency was now riddled with tribalism, racism and the senior party leadership had failed to address these issues, despite numerous appeals by long-serving supporters.
There are strong indications that the current squabbles in Bulawayo will see a number of other MDC-T members contesting the poll as independents, including Pelandaba-Mpopoma MP Samuel Sandlwana Khumalo, who also filed Friday.
Others were said to be holding on till the last minutes of the nomination process, which is now set to continue well past the initial 4pm deadline, to bargain with the party.
Senior MDC-T member Gwace Kwinjeh was also shocked to learn a few days ago that she will not be representing the party in Makoni Central, after being announced as a winner. She told the Daily News that she had lodged a complaint with the party leadership, party president Morgan Tsvangirai.
In Harare, SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that so far about 25 MDC-T members have indicated that they will be standing as independents.
Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa said the group, calling itself MDC Independents, will be challenging MDC-T winning candidates, with Norman Chiroto challenging Theresa Makone and Tendai Biti facing a challenge from Mr. Macheza.
“Apparently the candidates will be using the MDC-T logo but where Morgan Tsvangirai’s name appears, they will put their faces.”
Political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said some independent candidates are good for democracy, but it would affect the party’s numbers in parliament.
“Of course every individual who gets a vote deserves that vote but what it also means is that it reduces the party’s majority in parliament which makes the implementation of programmes very difficult.
“In politics there will always be dissenting voices, but it defeats the whole issue of unity of purpose and the dominance of the progressive forces. These intra-party fissures demonstrate that our leaders lack the capacity to unite their structures in order that the mission to unseat ZANU PF is accomplished,” Ngwenya.