By Paul Nyathi| Party Deputy President and Leader of the Anti Alliance MDC-T faction Thokozani Khuphe has all but declared yet another split of the opposition party.

Addressing a somewhat unexpected crowd of about 2500 people who nearly filled up the 3000 capacity carrying Bulawayo Amphitheatre on Sunday, Khuphe annouced that she was pulling out of the Nelson Chamisa led MDC-T.

She accused the Chamisa led faction for failing to adhere to the party’s founding values of constitutionalism, not being violent and not discriminating on ethnicity and gender.

“When the MDC was formed in 1999, its formation was founded on a strong belief in constitutionalism. The MDC is a party that believes in the supremacy of the constitution, democracy, non-discrimination, equality and non-violence,” she said.

Khuphe took the Chamisa faction to task for the violence against her and her colleagues at the burial of the late founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Buhera in February.

“The current events that have unfolded have gone against our values and principles as a party and have changed our character and culture. The violence that took place during our departed President’s funeral in Buhera and at the Bulawayo office on the 4th of March 2018 was unacceptable and goes against what we have been fighting for, for the last 18 years,” said Khuphe before declaring her departure from the party.

“With a clear conscious, we are parting from these actions and we will continue to pursue the democratic project of taking the people of Zimbabwe to the Promised Land,”

“We have come a long way with our colleagues however they seem to have taken a different path. A path which is against and does not respect the constitution, a path which does not respect democracy, a path which is violent, a path which discriminates on the basis of ethnicity and a path which discriminates against women,” she added.

Khuphe who enjoys amicable working relations with the leader of the People’s Rainbow Coalition Joice Mujuru made pointers that she will be joining the MDC Alliance coalition coalition rival in contesting the 2018 elections.

“In this respect, therefore, we shall also pursue the formation of a holistic, viable and broad – based grand coalition of all progressive and democratic political forces that will face Zanu PF in the forthcoming harmonised elections,” she said.

Khuphe has always been against the MDC Alliance coalition while at the same time holding talks with Mujuru who declined to be part of the alliance.

Several members of the Mujuru led National People’s Party a principal partner in the PRC alliance attended the meeting. Also in attendance were some members of the radical Matabeleland regional party Mthwakazi Republic Party and representatives of a few Bulawayo based members Non Governmental Organisations.

Also at the rally was the MDC-T National Organising Secretary Abednico Bhebhe and suspended party spokesperson Obert Gutu. Some members from the party’s provincial executive committees in Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and South also attended the rally.