PM cracks whip in Byo

Tsvangirai, who travelled to Bulawayo over the weekend to deal with spiralling violence sparked by the enthronement of Gorden Moyo as chairman three weeks ago, said it was a shame that the province entrusted with hosting the partys third

Congress had disappointed the party.

Senior officials in the MDC Bulawayo province are uncomfortable with Moyo assuming the chairmanship, and say they dont know him. He was hired from civil society by Tsvangirai in 2009 to take up a ministerial position in the GNU. His election to be chairman of Bulawayo without any history in the party has been vehemently opposed amid allegations of violence and vote-rigging.

But Tsvangirai yesterday rallied behind Moyo saying his election was “irreversible” even though there are claims some districts were disenfranchised in the election in a blatant case of electoral fraud. At least three provincial congresses have been aborted in Bulawayo after violence broke out.

Tsvangirai decreed that he would personally oversee the election of the remaining posts for the Bulawayo province this week and said no amount of protests would remove Moyo, described by one MDC official as his “blue-eyed boy” from the chairmanship. “Bulawayo province is the host for our congress and it should be leading by example,” he said.

“I am disappointed that Bulawayo is the most confused, undisciplined and disrespectful province.” On Friday the third provincial congress was aborted after supporters of losing candidate Matson Hlalo, a founding MDC candidate, and those

backing Moyo clashed in another bloody turf battle.

Tsvangirai said he was compiling the names of all the violent malcontents and vowed that they faced expulsion. He said the issue would be high on the congress agenda. Before addressing the warring province, Tsvangirai addressed top officials in Gwanda and later held a closed-door session with Matabeleland North provincial executive in Bulawayo, where he sharply warned against indiscipline. He called for officials to close ranks in the interest of internal unity.