MDC Bulawayo province urge police to cancel Tsvangirai rally

By Lance Guma
07 November 2005

Divisions in the opposition reached fever-pitch with reports that the Secretary for the Bulawayo province in the MDC, Councillor Albert Mhlanga has written a letter to the police asking them to cancel party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai’s permit to hold a rally in the city. The rally is scheduled for Bulawayo this coming Sunday. On Monday pro-Tsvangirai officials in the city were making frantic efforts to have the permit re-instated.

Lionel Saungweme in Bulawayo reports that Mhlanga who is a long time friend of Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, party treasurer and member of the top six, is aligned to the pro-senate faction. In the letter he argues it is the responsibility of the province to make such requests for the holding of a rally and not Tsvangirai. He requests the cancellation of the permit based on claims their faction is the legal MDC.

According to the Public Order and Security Act the police need to be notified 4 days in advance of a public meeting or rally. The issuing of permits remains debatable though as legal experts say the act is silent on that and simply urges the ‘notifying’ of the police. Saungweme reports that a counter-claim has been launched and it still remains to be seen which way the matter will be resolved. Questions are being raised on how the other camp knew an application to hold a rally had been made lodged with the police and as Saungweme explained party officials are failing to work together because of differing allegiances.