UNDER-FIRE People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Tendai Biti has accused former Vice-President Joice Mujuru and her National People’s Party (NPP) of fomenting divisions in the opposition ranks in the wake of a split in his own party.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
Biti was “fired” from PDP by his secretary-general Gorden Moyo at a Press conference allegedly held at Mujuru’s deputy Samuel Sipepa Nkomo’s house in Bulawayo on Thursday and replaced by party chairperson Lucia Matibenga.
“I have been holding negotiations with NPP for over two years and I came to a conclusion that Mujuru is in the opposition on the basis of her exclusion from Zanu PF, but she still maintains the blood and spirit of her party in all her dealings. She can’t be trusted,” he said yesterday.
Mujuru was reported to have offered the PDP team led by Moyo six seats in each province, a deal the team opposed to Biti believed was better than what MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai had offered in the MDC Alliance.
Speaking after a PDP national governing council meeting, which was attended by all provincial chairpersons of the party, Biti expressed his commitment to work with Tsvangirai to unseat Mugabe.
“This is a narrative that is not demanded by PDP, but the people of Zimbabwe, we are stronger united and we will not allow the politics of exclusion from Zanu PF to divide us,” he said.
The PDP replaced Moyo with Settlement Chikwinya in an acting capacity, and Matibenga with Evelyn Masaiti to fill in the gaps as the majority of the standing committee remained solidly behind Biti’s leadership.
Biti said the governing council had not expelled Moyo or Matibenga as they would still retain their positions if they decide to come back from the “short sabbatical” they had taken.
But NPP secretary-general Gift Nyandoro distanced Mujuru’s party from the troubles rocking PDP, saying the two parties had no deal with each other.
He also said Mujuru had suffered at the hands of Zanu PF to the extent that she was ridiculed in public and had her husband, the late decorated General Solomon Mujuru, “murdered” by the regime for her to have any links with the party. -NewsDay
