By Paul Nyathi| Beleaguered MDC-T Deputy President Thokozani Khuphe will be holding her first public address since the death of former party President Morgan Tsvangirai which saw her get involved in severe party leadership squabbles.
The rally which was postponed at the last minute last week on the advice of the police will be held at the Bulawayo Amphitheatre on Sunday.
Highly reliable sources close to Khuphe revealed to ZimEye.com that the rally has been cleared by the police who have also undertaken to provide security at the gathering.
Police in Bulawayo last week declined to sanction the rally raising fears of intra party violence within the MDC-T feuding factions.
Two weeks ago MDC-T supporters brutally attacked each other at the party offices as the rivalry in the party leadership intensified.
Khuphe is involved in a bitter fight for the leadership of the party with Nelson Chamisa who she accuses of unconstitutionally spiralling himself to the leadership of the party.
She is also strongly against the allocation of seats in the MDC Alliance coalition agreement where she claims the MDC-T was not given enough stake against coalition partners she claims are bringing no value into the Alliance.
Khuphe’s rally has surprisingly attracted a huge attention from varied sectors within the Matabeleland region.
Social media commentators in the region have been pledging to go out in numbers to show support for Khuphe who they claim is a victim of tribal and sexual discrimination by the Chamisa leadership.
Coalition partner Welshman Ncube of the MDC last week told a rally that Chamisa’s rise to the leadership of the MDC-T and the Alliance was endorsed by feared and respected Ndebele spirit medium, Njelele of Matopo, effectively ruling out any tribal discrimination against Khuphe.
Efforts to get a comment from Khuphe or her personal assistant Witness Dube on the agenda of the meeting were fruitless at the time of writing.
However, the sources indicated that Khuphe who “will be accompanied by surprise MDC-T senior members” will announce the inevitable third split of the party at the rally.