MDC split – the other side

tate sponsored mouthpieces, is full of blatant lies, misinformation,
innuendoes and what would seem like a deliberate attempt to malign those who
hold views contrary to those of Morgan Tsvangirai.
Let us examine some of the untruths in Mr Dzamara’s article:
When the MDC split following the October 12 vote, Professor Welshman Ncube
did not become the Acting President of the formation that went to Congress
and was subsequently led by Professor Arthur Mutambara. That grouping was
led by Mr Gibson Sibanda. This constant reference to Welshman Ncube’s camp
is a sinister disinformation designed to mislead the general public.
 “They tried to push for a preservation of their senior positions through
a decree by Tsvangirai”writes Dzamara. Which section of the MDC constitution
would have allowed Tsvangirai to “decree” some process in the MDC? None!
 Though Dzamara claims that ” it is important to unravel the link between
the Tsholotsho plot and the MDC (I thought it was only Zanu (PF) and Mugabe
who referred to the Tsholotsho gathering as a plot,) he is unable to offer
any reasonable links between the two.. according to Dzamara the Tsholotsho
“plot” flopped because it was leaked to Tsvangirai!, this is fanciful stuff
 I can understand Dzamara maligning Zimbabwean opposition politicians that
do not support Tsvangirai’s leadership, but to make disparaging remarks
about President Mbeki in yet another attempt to promote Tsvangirai’s
leadership is in bad taste to put it mildly. President Mbeki had nothing to
do with the MDC split, Tsvangirai presided over that split. President Mbeki
did not influence 33 members of the National Council to vote in favour of
participating in the senatorial contest. What tends to be ignored by those
who are in the business of distorting facts is that of the 12 Party
Provinces that decided on the matter, 6 voted in favour of participation,
four voted against and two had not completed the process of consultations.
Let anyone dispute these facts..
 The allegations of fraud around the voting procedure are false.
 It is false, in fact it is a despicable lie to state that after the
National Council vote “Ncube and his followers walked out to announce the
split”. It is Tsvangirai who walked out despite entreaties from his
colleagues who included Tendai Biti. It was Tsvangirai who, 30 minutes after
leaving the Council, falsely told journalists that the council vote had been
split evenly and that he had used his “presidential casting vote”. Of course
that was untrue. The MDC Constitution does not have a provision for a
presidential casting vote. That there were two proxy votes from Mrs. Sekai
Holland and Ms Grace Kwinjeh is just a lie. There are no proxy votes in the
MDC Constitution
For the record, Gift Chimanikire, Gibson Sibanda Welshman Ncube and
Fletcher Dulini Ncube went to meet President Mbeki. The late Isaac Matongo
had initially agreed to undertake the trip but gave in to pressure from
Tsvangirai at the last minute.
The nonsense about Mbeki preferring Ncube to Tsvangirai is the product of
an inferiority complex that cannot be blamed on Mbeki. He took the risk of
angering Zanu (PF) in the process
 Professor Arthur Mutambara was unanimously elected by a properly
constituted Congress in Bulawayo comprising 3000 delegates from all of the
Party’s 12 Provinces. Attributing his election to Welshman Ncube is designed
to de-legitimize his leadership.
Democratic forces in Zimbabwe need to come together to rid the country of
the tyranny that has bedeviled it in the past 27 years. We demean the
struggle by peddling untruths in an effort to outdo each other in the eyes
of the people of Zimbabwe and the international community. We need to use
information outlets like the Zimbabwean to give people factual information
that will enable them to make informed choices. – Nyathi is MDC (Mutambara)
national director of elections and writes here in his personal capacity.