‘Bennett, Mawere have not joined Renewal’

Politics
MDC Renewal spokesperson, Jacob Mafume says South Africa-based Zimbabwean businessman Mutumwa Mawere and MDC-T treasurer-general Roy Bennett have not joined the breakaway party.

MDC Renewal spokesperson, Jacob Mafume says South Africa-based Zimbabwean businessman Mutumwa Mawere and MDC-T treasurer-general Roy Bennett have not joined the breakaway party.

By Musa Dube

Addressing journalists in Bulawayo last Friday, Mafume said although he was not a spokesperson for the two, Mawere and Bennett were not into the Renewal Team.

Mafume claimed that many people were still going to join the Renewal Team.

“People are going to join us but I will allow people to speak for themselves and that’s why I have not even attended a press conferences where a person says I am now Renewal Team because I don’t want to be accused of buying people or forcing people to be with me,” he said.

Meanwhile, Makokoba legislator, Gorden Moyo who officially crossed to the MDC Renewal Team said he still has great respect for MDC-T leader and former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai. He however, said Tsvangirai now lacked the stamina to continue leading the party.

Moyo said Tsvangirai fought hard to dislodge Zanu PF from power but should now pass on the baton to others.

“This country will never be written without a chapter of Morgan Tsvangirai. He worked for this country. He tried to shake Zanu PF and Mugabe but where we have arrived he can’t continue. At Renewal we are honest, and I stand here on behalf of Renewal. He worked hard but we need new ideas, brains and new pairs of feet,” said Moyo, who is now the party’s head of the diaspora and international relations committee.

“I once worked in his office, worked as the party provincial chairman and I respect him but where we are now, we need new ideas. We don’t need only renewal of the leadership but renewal of the economy and everything that we have.”

Moyo said under Tsvangirai’s leadership, the party would always lose crucial elections at the last minute despite working hard. Moyo said they were disappointed that the MDC-T did not win last year’s election and the economy was now in dire straits under the Mugabe regime.

“We were hopeful that by August 1 2013, we would wake up to a new Zimbabwe and with a new leadership but what we wanted, we didn’t get. We should thank God that he gave us good rains this year otherwise this country would be back to 2008,” he said.

He said the economy was now dead and the ruling party had no clue how to resuscitate it.

Former Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo and former MDC-N provincial spokesperson Edwin Ndlovu were some of the new people who have joined the Renewal party.

Moyo and Ndlovu are the party’s national working council member and Bulawayo province vice chairperson respectively.