Mudzuri ready to take over MDC-T party

Acting MDC-T president Engineer Elias Mudzuri has joined the race to take over the reins of the opposition party from ailing leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, who is battling colon cancer.

Mr Tsvangirai on Monday hinted on early retirement from active politics for the first time since disclosing his condition in 2016, fuelling frenzied speculation that one of his deputies, Mr Nelson Chamisa, was set to take over by suggesting the need to hand over “the levers of leadership” to a younger generation”.

Eng Mudzuri threw his hat in the ring yesterday while addressing journalists after touring banks in the Southerton industrial area of Harare.

”In the unlikely event that he (Mr Tsvangirai) fails (to recover), I think you can see that we have able-bodied people in the MDC; it’s an organisation, one of us should be able to take over,” he said.

Pressed to state whether he was prepared to succeed Mr Tsvangirai as MDC-T leader, Eng Mudzuri stated: “I am saying I could take over. One of us should be able to take over; I am one of them, so am I not saying one of us?”

Mr Tsvangirai was diagnosed with cancer of the colon in 2016 and has been receiving treatment in South Africa since then.

Eng Mudzuri was last week appointed by Mr Tsvangirai to temporarily run the affairs of the party while the opposition leader continues to receive treatment. Mr Tsvangirai has led the MDC since its founding in 1999 but has lost all subsequent Presidential elections, with the 2013 poll loss being the most devastating, leading to immediate calls by his subornates for him to step down.

By Farirai Machivenyika