OPPOSITION MDC Alliance President Douglas Mwonzora has described former colleagues, Elias Mudzuri, Webber Chinyadza and Norest Marara as useless, unelectable people whose exit was a boon for the party.
Mwonzora said this while responding to recent utterances by Mudzuri, who is battling to nullify his presidential win at last year's congress.
He was speaking to journalists from his Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House (MRT) headquarters.
The former MDC Secretary General laid into Mudzuri whom he said had never tasted an electoral victory within the party and had been surviving on appointments.
"The leadership of the MDC is selected by congress, Mudzuri was nominated by the national council as second deputy president, we then postponed the national council in order to print ballots," said Mwonzora.
"He was being challenged by Nomalanga Khumalo and Paurina Mpariwa, it became so obvious to him that he was not going to win because, let us face it, he has never won internal elections.
"In 2011 he lost to Nelson Chamisa for the post of MDC Organising Secretary, in 2014 he did not even contest but was then handpicked by late President Morgan Tsvangirai in 2016.
"In 2020 he contested for the position of president at the extra ordinary congress, he polled 14 votes, Komichi polled 14 votes, Thokozani Khupe polled 118 votes and I polled 888 votes. After that I appointed Mudzuri to be deputy president, a position that he held until the democratic process.
"He was part of all the democratic processes that took place leading to congress, he cannot say that people are illegitimate because he lost elections."
Mudzuri last week accused Mwonzora of having rigged his way to retaining the party's top post by manipulating and ignoring their constitution.
Added Mwonzora: "This is not the first time that Mudzuri has done this to people senior to him. In 2013 he wrote a letter to Tsvangirai asking him to step down for him to take over. Tsvangirai of course treated it with the disdain it deserved.
"In 2019 he wrote a letter to Chamisa, who was his president then, asking him to resign so that he would take over, he came to me asking that I resign so he takes over. Here is a leader that wants leadership by default.
"With due respect I think he has outlived his usefulness in the organisation. We called for nominations by the NC of 211 people, no one mentioned his name, no one mentioned Marara's name.
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"They have taken the party to court and our constitution is clear, whoever takes the party to court expels themselves.
"The person in Maputo is the governing party not the person in Gorongosa, so the person at Harvest House is the person running affairs of the party.
"Their grumblings are of very disgruntled people, people who are unelectable such as Chinyadza and Marara whom we gave US$20,000 and (they) polled 65 votes. He is of no use to us."
Mwonzora announced a raft of appointments, relegating former Vice President Morgen Komichi to Secretary for National Peace and Reconciliation.
Thokozani Khupe's ally Khaliphani Phugeni has been appointed Deputy Secretary for Policy while Paurina Mpariwa was rewarded with party deputy leader post.
