MDC-T leader Thokozani Khupe’s spokesperson, Khalipani Phugeni said the party is a Tsvangirai family project and having members of the family in the structures is not a way of trying to gain public sympathy.
In an interview on Tuesday Talk, Phugeni said the fact the party is named after Tsvangirai is proof that the party belongs to the Tsvangirai family. Said Phugeni:
We are not trying to rope in the Tsvangirai family, this is their project, the party is called Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirai, so this is their thing.
It is their project, and we are not trying to act in any fun way or whatsoever, it is their project, the headquarters is named after their father, brother or son so there is nothing amiss here.
Phugeni said there was nothing wrong with Khupe putting her name on the list of the party’s proportional representative nominees forwarded to electoral officials.
He said it was the party’s desire to have its president in Parliament leading the caucus.
The MDC-T has been accused of trying to use the late Morgan Tsvangirai’s family to appear like the genuine party since the party’s founding president died in 2018.
The MDC-T has roped in Vincent Tsvangirai, Morgan’s son, and Manase Tsvangirai, Morgan’s young brother, in its structures.
Earlier this year, the entire MDC-T leadership performed some rituals at Tsvangirai’s grave and promised to take care of his mother.