MDC Secretary General aspirant at the forthcoming congress Charlton Hwende has taken a dig at the past holders of the powerful position for creating centres of power instead of centres of administration something he says he will correct if elected to the position this coming weekend.

Asked by The Standard why previous Secretary Generals Professor Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti and Douglas Mwonzora- all ended up either leaving the party or clashing with their Presidents, Hwende said the problem was their refusal to acknowledge the constitutional reality that they were surbodinates to the President.

Below is Hwende’s response;

NEWSDAY: The position of the secretary-general is one of the most powerful ones in the party. Historically some secretary-generals have ended up in problems with the rest of the leadership. Would you know why this is the case and what can you do to stop this?

CHARLTON HWENDE: One of the most urgent things during my tenure will be to reform the secretary-general’s office and to transform this crucial department from being a centre of power to a centre of administration. In terms of the MDC constitution, the secretary-general is not the leader of the party. The leader of the party is the president of the party. The secretary-general is a subordinate of the president. Unfortunately, successive secretaries general of the MDC have refused to acknowledge this constitutional reality and it has caused major conflicts and divisions in the party. Under my stewardship, the office of the secretary-general will not compete with the office of the president because it is not only wrong, but also retrogressive. The secretary-general should complement and not compete with the president of the party. Unbridled ambition and disloyalty have also been a source of conflict in the party. The MDC splits in 2005 and 2014 were spearheaded by sitting secretaries general of the time. This will not happen during my tenure. I am a loyal cadre of the party and I will not invest my energy into any agenda that has the potential to derail the movement. I will be loyal to president Nelson Chamisa and his shared vision of a new Zimbabwe.