Ousted opposition Movement for Democratic Change presidential hopeful, Abednico Bhebhe, has described his expulsion from the Thokozani Khupe-led party as null and void, claiming that he was being pushed out for trouncing all top officials in the first nomination meeting in Bulawayo.
In an interview with VOA Zimbabwe Service, Bhebhe said, “It’s obvious that these people are very much scared based on what happened in Bulawayo which is an indication that I was going to be elected president of the party. All provinces had indicated that they will back me to contest the post of president at the forthcoming Extra Ordinary Congress.
“When they realized that people wanted me to be the president, they held a WhatsApp meeting and announced that they had expelled me. Oh! No! I can’t be expelled via WhatsApp.”
He claimed that the top MDC-T officials are terrified about what happened in Bulawayo, and as a result, they are now breaking the party’s constitution to protect themselves from eminent defeat.
“We need to do the right thing. Let’s respect MDC members and all Zimbabweans because what is being done by Thoko (Thokozani Khupe) and Nkomitsho (Morgen Komichi) shows that they no longer follow party regulations. They have dipped in Zanu PF’s (political) soup and this is why they are doing all these illegal things.
Bhebhe, who recently filed a court application seeking to block his suspension, is now challenging his expulsion from the opposition party.
He dismissed reports that he is aligned to the Movement for Democratic Change led by Nelson Chamisa, whose leadership of the MDC was nullified a few months ago by the Supreme Court.
“Suggestions that I’m aligned to the MDC Alliance is just a tired story, it does not make sense at all … They are now afraid of Bhebhe after realizing that he is capable of taking away what they thought they had already pocketed.”
He said it was untrue that he brought some people affiliated to the MDC Alliance to the Bulawayo meeting where he allegedly clobbered the other contestants.
In a tweet after the provincial nomination meeting, the MDC-T announced last week that Khupe got 59 votes, Bhebhe (44), Mwonzora (15), Gift Chimanikire (1), Mudziri (0) and Komich (0).
According to some figures released by some MDC-T officials, Bhebhe got 170 votes, Khupe (39), Mwonzora (7), Mudzuri (0 )and Komichi (0). Chimanikire does not appear on nomination list.
The results infuriated Khupe and her colleagues who immediately announced that the nationwide internal elections had been cancelled.
In a statement, the National Council resolved last week to expel Bhebhe “for grossly violating the constitution by of the party by supporting another political party other than the MDC-T.”
Bhebhe, who is the acting MDC-T national organizing secretary, was also barred from contesting for any position in the party at the Extra Ordinary Congress, which is being convened to replace the late Morgan Tsvangirai.
The National Council resolved that only Khupe, Douglas Mwonzora, Morgan Komichi and Elias Mudzuri will fight for the position of party president.
Khupe, Mwonzora and others were not available for comment as they were not responding to calls on their mobile phones.