Iain Kay was yesterday summoned to an MDC-T Mashonaland East Provincial meeting held at Harvest House, to either confirm or deny media reports that he was of the opinion that there should be party leadership renewal.
Kay was reportedly briefly quizzed before being kicked out of the meeting.
According to media reports carried in one of the Zimbabwe daily papers, Kay likened the MDC-T election scenario to a soccer game where the coach must be changed if the team kept losing, apparently referring to Tsvangirai who lost to President Robert in 2002, 2008 and this year under controversial circumstances and failed to dislodge Zanu (PF).
“There is need to plan ahead before the ship sinks and if there is need to change the coach, let it be,” Kay reportedly said.
MDC-T Mashonaland East Provincial Spokesperson, Graham Nyahanda, confirmed Kay’s suspension, saying the decision was adopted pending investigations and a disciplinary hearing.
“Kay admitted speaking in support of Bennett’s calls for leadership change. These are congress issues which according to party policy and constitution cannot be discussed at this stage,” Nyahada told The Zimbabwean in a telephone interview.
Nyahada said MDC-T was keen to establish the motive behind Kay’s utterances about congress issues this early. He said this was an issue to do with the party code of conduct.
Kay is expected to be brought before a disciplinary hearing within the next two weeks.
Asked by The Zimbabwean if there was any difference between MDC-T and Zanu (PF) regarding suppression of freedom of expression, Nyahada said: “This has nothing to do with whether we behave like Zanu (PF) or not.”
Kay’s suspension attracted mixed reactions from the public, the majority of whom expressed disappointment at ‘tyrannical’ symptoms in MDC-T politics.
Former Marondera mayor, Farai Nyandoro, who was suspended from MDC-T by the Pinniel Denga led provincial executive accused the party leadership of retributive witch hunts.
Nyandoro said from the newspaper article in question, Kay did not say Tsvangirai should go, but simply expressed the need for leadership change at all levels where necessary.
He said Denga was supposed to recluse himself from chairing a meeting deciding Kay’s fate, since he was an interested party.
“Denga has been Kay’s rival ever since they contested each other at the 2012 Provincial Electoral Congress held at Harvest House,” said Nyandoro.
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Kay becomes the first victim of last kicks of a dying horse (Tsvangirai). Tsvangirai lost elections so dismally that he no longer trust anyone. Tsvangirai should take leave and recover from the election shock, instead of running riot like a beheaded chicken.
Like everybody else, Kay was shell shocked with the election outcome that he decided to express his opinion in this regard. Unfortunately, MDC-T and Tsvangirai are no different from Zanu (PF) and Mugabe. They are dictators who do not accept objective and constructive criticism.
Shame on you Tsvangirai and MDC-T.
Thank God you have shown your true colors before you got into power.
This is the start of the end of MDCT. It was never sustainable, your policies were zero tolerance to the objectives of the Liberation War. Now you are paying the price of being sellouts to the people of Zimbabwe. Check ZIDERA.
If the truth be told, Tsvangirai would have taken our country to the dogs. He is just not the material to run a country considering his poor record of making meaningful decisions or responding to different situations
If the truth be told, Tsvangirai would have taken our country to the dogs. He is just not the material to run a country considering his poor record of making meaningful decisions or responding to different situations