Disagreements over role of MDC UK national executive

By Tichaona Sibanda
19 December 2006

Sharp disagreements have emerged between several members of the MDC UK executive and the party’s secretary for International Affairs Elphas Mukonoweshuro over the way some members of the UK executive are conducting party business in London.

Mukonoweshuro recently sent e-mail to Ephraim Tapa, the MDC-UK chairman pointing out that they were conducting party business that was out of their jurisdiction. Asked to elaborate on this, Mukonoweshuro told us in an interview Tuesday that some members of the UK executive were straying into jobs meant to be carried out by appointed party representatives Hebson Makuvise and Emily Madamombe.

Makuvise who is the chief representative of the MDC in the UK told us Tapa and Mutyambizi-Dewa have been warned before about ‘doing things their own way and without authority from the party.’

‘The men have continued to defy party orders and we wonder if they are still working for the MDC or someone else. If they continue with their defiance they will soon find themselves in serious trouble. We have irrefutable evidence that they’ve been meddling outside their authority, so questions should be asked as to whom they are working for?

Mukonoweshuro said they would need to study the correspondence between Tapa, Mutyambizi and himself before convening a meeting of the national executive to chart the way forward.

‘This was an internal memo to the chairman in the UK which has been leaked to the press for whatever reasons, but as a party we are not intimidated by the combative responses that we are getting from the UK,’ Mukonoweshuro said.

The leaked memo was sent to Ephraim Tapa from Mukonoweshuro, but for some reason it was Mutyambizi-Dewa who responded, and defiantly. In his response Mutyambizi-Dewa accused Mukonoweshuro of writing ‘rubbish’ about the executive in the UK.

His letter read in Part; ‘Professor if you are truly MDC you should know that the party at the moment is reeling from the cover of accusations such as kitchen cabinets and by blowing the trumpet without even pausing to think you are confirming what has been said before; that there is a very wide propensity in MDC to disregard the elected in favour of the appointed.’

Mukonoweshuro was however adamant that some of the UK officials were operating like dangerous loose canons. He told us; ‘This has to be stopped. They should stop conducting diplomatic activities for the party in the UK.’

However Information and Publicity secretary for the MDC-UK Matthew Nyashanu told us the e-mail written by Mutyambizi-Dewa to Mukonoweshuro does not in any way represent the views of the executive members.

‘It is an email written by an individual and should be taken in that context. If ever there are members who share the same sentiments as those in the e-mail in question, they do not constitute the majority of the executive members and are still to make their intentions known. In the light of the above assertions the MDC-UK Executive would like to disassociate itself from the views of the communication in question,’ said Nyashanu.

Asked to comment on the allegations, Tapa insisted Mukonoweshuro was acting on incorrect information. He said the UK executive always conducts its business under the guidance of the national chairman Isaac Matongo, who is based in Harare.

‘We know where to draw the line. We have taken every opportunity to brief and seek guidance from the national chairman and never has my executive encroached into the diplomatic arena. Its unfortunate the professor (Mukonoweshuro) is acting on incorrect information. It is common sense that as the new executive we had to introduce ourselves to the British Foreign Office.’