By Paul Nyathi|The MDC-T dramatic wrangle for power between Nelson Chamisa and Thokozani Khuphe continues intriguing with information that Khuphe has sent a letter to parliament recalling Chamisa from the august house.
Chamisa who was endorsed as the President of the MDC-T by the party National Council in February got Khuphe out of Parliament last week when he wrote a letter to the Speaker saying that Khuphe was no longer a member of the party.
Khuphe however claims that she is the bona fide leader of the party having been elected as it’s Deputy President in three congresses.
She claims that according to the party constitution she was meant to be the party acting President until a special congress elected a leader to replace the late founding President Morgan Tsvangirai.
Part of the letter sent to the speaker of parliament by Khuphe reads;
“This letter serves to formally advise your office that Hon Nelson Chamisa is no longer a member of the MDC-T party that is currently led by acting president Thokozani Khupe.
“Hon Chamisa’s membership of the party has been terminated after he has wilfully and deliberately violated the constitution of the MDC-T by passing himself off as the president of the party.”
Section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe says: “If the member has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or President of the Senate, as the case may be, has declared that the member has ceased to belong to it.”
Spokesperson of Dr Khupe’s camp Obert Gutu confirmed to the media that their faction had recalled Chamisa.
“I can confirm that our leader, Dr Khupe, wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly to ask him to recall Mr Chamisa from Parliament.
“We feel that this is the right thing to do and in line with the constitution of our party.
“We expect the Speaker of Parliament to respond promptly and act accordingly to our request because Madam Khupe is the legitimate leader of the MDC-T.”
On Saturday Khupe’s lawyer – Professor Lovemore Madhuku – told state run media that he will file a Constitutional Court appeal on Monday challenging his client’s expulsion from Parliament.
“Our arguments are that Parliament is abusing its privileges. The Speaker cannot decide who or not to believe,” said Dr Madhuku.
“We have chosen the Constitutional Court because the High Court has handled matters like this previously, but it has not given its justification for taking sides so we feel that there is need to look at the constitutional provisions.
“There is no basis for saying that a person who has been voted into office can be recalled on the basis of a letter.”