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Zimbabwe opposition MDC fires deputy, weakening party
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition party on Friday fired three top officials for "unconstitutional behavior", including one of its vice presidents, in a move likely to weaken it more only months before presidential elections.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) faces president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who succeeded Robert Mugabe in November, in polls set for July. The MDC has been hurt by the death of its founder Morgan Tsvangirai of cancer in February.
The opposition has picked 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa as its leader and presidential candidate, but some senior party officials have accused him of a power grab.
The MDC said in a statement on Friday that its national council had dismissed vice president Thokozani Khupe, chief party organizer Abednigo Bhebhe and national spokesman Obert Gutu, who is not a lawmaker.
Khupe and Bhebhe will be recalled from parliament, the MDC said, adding that the decision to fire the three was a result of their "unconstitutional behavior and illegal meetings" that were not sanctioned by the party.
Bhebhe and Khupe were not immediately available for comment.
Gutu dismissed his expulsion as null and void.
"We can't be fired by an illegitimate president. We are the genuine MDC and so the purported expulsion is preposterous, frivolous and thoughtless," Gutu said.
Khupe and Bhebhe are from the western Matabeleland province, which the MDC has dominated in elections since 2000. Their expulsion could cost the MDC crucial votes.
The fired officials have refused to acknowledge Chamisa as MDC president, and Khupe has claimed to be the legitimate leader.
Zimbabwe's first presidential and parliamentary elections since the end of former strongman Robert Mugabe’s long rule will take place in July, Mnangagwa said on Saturday.
(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by James Macharia)
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