Sikhala speaks out ....again!

22 November 2005

By Violet Gonda

The rancour within the MDC reached new heights on Sunday, when leaders from the pro-senate camp launched a scathing attack on opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Four MDC leaders, vice president Gibson Sibanda, secretary general Welshman Ncube, his deputy Gift Chimanikira and St Mary’s Member of Parliament Job Sikhala told the gathering that Tsvangirai was now campaigning for ZANU-PF to win the senate elections, by campaigning for a boycott.

Sikhala claimed at the rally that Tsvangirai hadunsuccessfully tried to enlist the support of African leaders and a senior Zimbabwe National Army officer to convince Robert Mugabe to appoint him Vice President of Zimbabwe. Sikhala claimed Tsvangirai has proved to be worse than Mugabe. He said Tsvangirai sent him and former MP Tafadzwa Musekiwa to go and speak to Commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe, Air Marshal Perence Shiri and assure him that he would not be tried for the Gukurahundi massacres should he win the presidential election in 2002.

On the programme Hot Seat, Sikhala reiterated the same accusations and claims that it is in retaliation to statements made by his President that some people in the pro-senate camp had been bought by ZANU PF. The MP said the gloves are now off and it’s time to tell the world who Tsvangirai really is, “… a hypocritical power hungry dictator who sent us to negotiate for him to be part and parcel of the current government.”

Tsvangirai’s spokesman William Bango, described Sikhala’s allegation as nonsense and said the MP has lost credibility as a politician and anyone who took him seriously does so at their peril. He said the verbal attacks were consistent with a Zanu PF strategy to demonize Morgan Tsvangirai.

Undeterred, Sikhala warned Bango to tell his boss that he was going to expose more “truths” saying, “ We have tried to make him see sense (Tsvangirai) and failed. If Jesus Christ was alive today we could have asked him to come and exorcise our president of the demon that is causing him into confusion today.”

The leaders at the Bulawayo rally said they would take disciplinary action against their president soon after the Senate elections for violating the party’s constitution. They urged party supporters to go out in their thousands to vote for the MDC senate candidates on November 26.

Gift Chimanikire also took the opportunity to lash out at the MDC leader, saying he was promoting tribalism in the MDC.

Gibson Sibanda told the rally that the MDC has participated in three previous elections and there was no reason to boycott the senate elections.

Welshman Ncube compared Tsvangirai to a general who led his troops to capture a large territory and then decides one day to surrender it to the enemy.

Among the MDC leaders present were Paul Themba Nyathi, Fletcher Dulini Ncube, Renson Gasela, Trudy Stevenson, Bulawayo city councilors, the provincial leadership of Matabeleland and senatorial candidates from Masvingo, Midlands and Harare.