My hands are clean – Mwonzora

CHENGETAI ZVAUYA

Embattled MDC deputy secretary for International Relations Douglas Mwonzora has said his hands are clean and he is not leading any faction plotting to depose the party’s leader Nelson Chamisa.

The former party’s Secretary General stands accused of commenting on MDC’s issues on social media and was last week threatened to be disciplined if he continues discussing party issues.

Mwonzora told Business Times statements that he was behind the factionalism in MDC were being peddled by his political enemies seeking his downfall.

In 2019, Mwonzora had hinted that he wanted to challenge Chamisa for the position of the party president before opting to contest for post of secretary general against Chalton Hwende at MDC elective congress in Gweru.

He lost the post. “I have nothing to do with childish rubbish acts. It is the usual cheap crap that is being spoken about me. I refer you to the party spokesperson and secretary general on the matter.

My social media account is for the public and open for viewing.

I responded to the lie and falsehoods that were being peddled by the discredited and exiled politician Jonathan Moyo.

I have never disrespected my party leadership by commenting on any matter about the party on the social media,” Mwonzora said.

Moyo recently posted on Twitter that Mwonzora and former minister Theresa Makone had approached the exiled Patrick Zhuwao to arrange a meeting between the late MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and former President Robert Mugabe.

Mwonzora and Chamisa have had a love-hate relationship.

Against all odds, Mwonzora beat Chamisa for the Secretary General’s post at the 2014 congress. Chamisa was later appointed one of the Vice Presidents by then party leader, the late Morgan Tsvangirai.

When Tsvangirai died in 2018, Mwonzora was alleged to be in the faction that was plotting to block Chamisa’s ascendancy.

When Mwonzora lost to Hwende, Chamisa appointed him as deputy secretary of International Relations.

Mwonzora also denied that he was behind the media stories that the party leadership including Chamisa and Hwende had allegedly misappropriated the party’s funds amounting to ZW$2m.

“I am not the TreasurerGeneral. That is David Coltart who administers the finances of the party and I cannot give any details about it.

As I have said it is the usual crap being peddled by my political enemies wanting to tarnish my image within the party structures,” Mwonzora said.

Coltart said last week there was no misappropriation of funds by the MDC leadership.

He said since taking office as MDC Treasurer General last year in May he has implemented a variety of new measures to make the MDC accounting systems as transparent and orderly as possible.

These systems have included a strict banking culture and an agreement that the party annual accounts will be subjected to an internal audit.

“President Chamisa is not even a signatory to our banking account and so it is impossible for him to have misappropriated money.

All of these measures have been wholeheartedly backed by President Chamisa,” Coltart said.

He said the first audit for the financial year ended December 31 2019 has not been done yet and he had not encountered any resistance from any quarter of the party’s senior leaders.

“The attempts to portray the audit as some kind of investigation into alleged impropriety are misleading and utterly false.

The audit was agreed to last year and is a routine audit.

I should also point out that this is the first time the MDC has conducted an audit of this nature and it is the first time any political party in Zimbabwe has ever subjected itself to an audit,” Coltart said.

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