Kwekwe mayor reaffirms support for Chamisa
KWEKWE mayor Angeline Kasipo has dismissed reports that she had crossed over to the Thokozani Khupe-led MDC-T, saying she would remain loyal to the MDC Alliance party led by Nelson Chamisa.
Kasipo was recently reported to have jumped ship together with other members of the MDC Alliance.
In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Kasipo dismissed reports that she and other top leaders of the MDC Alliance in Kwekwe had secretly with Khupe and pledged allegiance to her.
This was after opposition party insiders this week alleged that Kasipo together with councillor Eric Mukaro, the 2014 Midlands north MDC provincial chairperson Sidwell Bhepe, former Kwekwe Central legislator Blessing Chebundo and a handful of councillors attended Khupe’s meeting in Kwekwe.
Khupe has so far recalled 32 MDC Alliance MPs and 165 councillors for refusing to declare allegiance to her.
“In the not-so-distant past, I came out saying that I still stand with my party president Chamisa, and I say so up until this hour,” Kasipo said.
“I did not attend the said meeting with Khupe over the weekend because I was already out of Kwekwe. I left Kwekwe on Sunday to attend a meeting here in Kadoma where I am still holed up,” she said.
Kasipo said while some MDC Alliance party members would attend the MDC-T extraordinary congress (EOC) because they were in the 2014 structures, that would not necessarily mean that they crossed over to Khupe’s party.
“I think people need to understand something. The party (MDC Alliance) allowed its members who were in the 2014 structures to attend the MDC-T EOC.
“It does not, however, mean that those people would have abandoned Chamisa. It is a position that was actually arrived at by the MDC Alliance itself since it is a party of democrats,” Kasipo said.
A fortnight ago, the 2014 Midlands South MDC chairperson Francisco Masendeke attended a similar meeting in Gweru which was chaired by acting MDC-T chairperson Morgen Komichi.
During the meeting it was revealed that the MDC Alliance members that attended had not necessarily dumped Chamisa, but were just following protocol and attending the meeting as people that were in the 2014 MDC-T structures.