Oxford(ZimEye)The reported confusion at the Oxford MDC-T fundraising function on Saturday connected with the stripping down of the party’s foreign branches’ authority has been explained as having been caused by the UK leadership who allegedly failed to properly communicate directives from Harare.
It was also revealed that the visiting Harare delegate Thabitha Khumalo has nothing to do with the diaspora squabbles which are 15 months old to date.
The confusion arose over the contentious issue of whether the MDC-T UK and Ireland should continue as an external structure or reduced to an associate as stipulated in the latest MDC T constitution doctored from Harare.
One of the branch chairmen, Stanford Biti told ZimEye that the so called “demotion” is not a demotion at all and should have been communicated as re -organisation.
“It is mere “re-organisation” of the party it’s not a demotion,” he said.
Claims that Stanford Biti dismissed and doubted if “Tendai Biti had signed a letter which Samanyanga was reading to the media on the day”, have been disputed.
“I never challenged the authenticity of the letter ” said Biti.
“No. The only thing which I said is that “why should one person speak for the party?” We are now saying the secretary said this and that, (but) the secretary general is not the party.  Biti is not the MDC and Tsvangirai is not the MDC, we should say the party has said instead,” he said.
“I asked Tonderai  Samanyanga: are you operating as a provincial committee or as a coordinating committee, and he replied me saying he is operating as a coordinating committee.

“The only thing we should say is that the UK and Ireland should realise that they are far much better than any other province, and realise how powerful they are so they can unite to challenge Harare. And our potential actually means we can challenge Harare (on certain issues), he said.
Tonderai Samanyanga the man who was a year ago elected in provincial elections as UK and Ireland chairman, this week announced that his executive will be swiftly transformed into a coordinating committee as directed by the new constitution.
This was reportedly met with a diversity of views with Bristol branch MDC chairman Morgan Mutasa vehemently rejecting that the Samanyanga led executive should automatically transform to a coordinating committee.
“The new constitution states clearly that there should be only six members as in the coordinating committee and this would last up to 2016. We need to adhere to the constitution rather than misinterpret it ,”said Mutasa.