By Paul Nyathi

Scores of Welshman Ncube led MDC members in Gwanda Central over the weekend declared that they were leaving the party to join the Dumiso Dabengwa led ZAPU.

The sixty members who included a majority of the party’s ward committees told Voice Of America’s Studio Seven on Saturday that they were quitting the party because of its lack of principled top leadership.

According to the reports the members claimed that the MDC operates as a brief case party and never gets to be seen in between elections only to appear canvassing for votes at election time.

“We last saw Welshman Ncube or any of his people here in 2013 while other parties have been appearing and attending to our issues,” said one of the members.

While others were taking swipe at the MDC Alliance coalition partner, others claimed that they were joining the Dabengwa led ZAPU to revive the old spirit of the late Joshua Nkomo.

“We have always been ZAPU and we joined these other parties because our ZAPU had disappeared into ZANU PF, now that ZAPU is back we have no alternative but to go back home and revive the spirit of Joshua Nkomo,” said one lady.

ZAPU has been out on a massive campaign in the Matabeleland region where it is expecting to draw a following for the upcoming harmonised elections.

The party is expected to hold its first star rally of the campaign in Gwanda in April.