Chamisa elevates Welshman Ncube sidelines Biti

Movement for Democratic Change leader Nelson Chamisa has elevated Welshman Ncube, former leader of the MDC, as one of his co-vice-presidents together with Elias Mudzuri and Morgen Komichi.

Komichi was chairman under the old MDC-T and Mudzuri was vice-president.

Chamisa’s spokesman Nkululeko Sibanda said the party was now known as the MDC, its original name when it was founded in 1999.

Jacob Mafume is now spokesman for the new party.

The MDC first split into two in 2006 with the faction led by founding president Morgan Tsvangirai becoming known as MDC-Tsvangirai while the other faction led de facto by Welshman Ncube, though Arthur Mutambara was made president, retained the MDC name.

Chamisa also elevated party spokesman Thabitha Khumalo to party chairperson with Tendai Biti as her deputy.

Biti was Chamisa’s right hand man throughout the 2018 election campaign and might have been sidelined to the lower post because of his threat to Chamisa’s leadership.

There was wide speculation that Biti, an Alliance partner who was elected Member of Parliament for Harare East, might garner to become leader of the opposition in the National Assembly but this post was given to Khumalo.

Mudzuri is, however, leader of the opposition in the Senate.

The party is due to go to congress next year.

Chamisa, who insists he won the 30 July elections, has indicated that he will swear himself in as the people’s president when the party celebrates its 19^th anniversary this weekend.

Some of his supporters have warned him not to do that fearing that this might be a trap by some of his lieutenants to get him into trouble so that he is removed from contention at next year’s congress.

While some of his supporters have hailed the move as a sign of defiance saying it will put to question President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s legitimacy, one analyst said: “Swearing himself in is a script borrowed from Raila in Kenya and the outcome is as predictable. It will face the same fate Raila’s inauguration faced – high sounding political stunt with minimal effect for its intended purpose. Maybe learning in politics is not doing what your friend did and failed.”

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