By Paul Nyathi| Police in Bulawayo have refused to sanction a rally organised by beleaguered MDC-T Deputy President Thokozani Khuphe, ZimEye.com can reveal.

Highly placed sources close to the MDC-T leader told ZimEye Khuphe had planned to hold a rally at the Bulawayo Amphitheatre on Saturday, but police in Bulawayo would not sanction it as they raised fears of violence.

The sources indicated that the police claimed they do not have enough police details to man the rally which they suspected would turn violent as the police officers are occupied at the ongoing cricket World Cup qualifiers.

Last Sunday police in the City had a handful as they tried to control MDC-T internal violent clashes at the party’s offices as rival supporters engaged in a bloody fight.

Sixteen people were arrested and appeared in court on Wednesday.

An official with the Bulawayo City Council confirmed that the venue had been booked for an MDC-T rally for Saturday which has since been postponed to an unspecified date.

Khuphe claims to be the genuine leader of the MDC-T following the death of founding President Morgan Tsvangirai and has publicly declared that he does not recognise Nelson Chamisa as President after he was appointed ahead of her by the National Council of the party.

The sources indicate that Khuphe who was given a seven day ultimatum to accept Chamisa last week, was going to use the rally to announce that she was dismissing from the party Chamisa and several Standing Committee members for not following the party constitution.

With the rally now cancelled and her seven days ultimatum expired, Khuphe is at the risk of being dismissed from the party first before her intended move.

Efforts to get a comment from her were unsuccessful at the time of writing.