Happier times ... Morgan Tvangirai with Lovemore Madhuku at a campaign event
29/09/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
NCA LEADER Lovemore Madhuku has hit out at ex-premier Morgan Tsvangirai, accusing him of helping foist on the country a constitution that was “more repressive” than the Lancaster House independence charter.
Madhuku, who has been dismissed as a Zanu PF sympathiser by former allies in the MDC-T, was addressing the NCA’s three-day congress in Harare where delegates agreed to transform the organisation into a fully-fledged political party.
“I will never forgive Tsvangirai and his party for leaving the people with a heavier burden than before; they left us with a more repressive constitution than the old Lancaster house constitution,” he said.
The NCA – which has campaigned for a “new democratic constitution” over the last sixteen years – was one of the organisations that helped found the MDC in 1999.
But relations between Madhuku and Tsvangirai soured after the MDC-T leader agreed to join President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party following the violent 2008 elections.
The NCA chief was to become a spikey critic of the prime minister after the MDC-T leader endorsed the constitution adopted following a referendum in March this year.
Critics dismiss the new charter as a self-serving political compromise between Zanu PF and the MDC parties.
Madhuku said the MDC-T did not even understand the constitution they helped craft which was demonstrated by the many legal blunders the party made as it tried to deal with the fall-out from its defeat by Zanu PF in the July 31 elections.
He said MDC-T officials had labelled him a Zanu PF sympathiser after he called them out for erroneously interpreting the constitution on various issues including the election of mayors.
“They do not know what they wrote. This is why they are always approaching the wrong courts,” he said adding MDC-T officials had “slept” while Zanu PF officials crafted the new constitution.
“Don’t waste your time going to Douglas Mwonzora (MDC-T spokesperson and former Copac co-chairperson) or Tendai Biti (MDC-T secretary-general and former GPA chief negotiator) if you want to understand the constitution. You have to go to (Finance minister Patrick) Chinamasa,” he said.
About 300 delegates attended the congress which ended on Saturday including MDC99 leader, Job Sikhala who, Madhuku said, had “interests in the new party”.
Madhuku also introduced disgruntled MDC-T members, among them Amon Chinhara from Redcliff as well as former Harare deputy mayor Emmanuel Chiroto saying they were also interested in joining the new party.
The party will be led by an interim committee chaired by Madhuku until a substantive leadership is elected at a congress which has been slated for March next year.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, LOVEMORE MADHUKU, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
posted by MrK @ 1:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home