The MDC party, led by Douglas Mwonzora, has taken control of party offices in Bulawayo that were previously occupied by the Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) political party and later by youth groups aligned with former CCC leader Nelson Chamisa, reported CITE.
Addressing journalists in Bulawayo on Saturday, Mwonzora said the MDC was also awarded US$90,000 in compensation from the CCC by the courts.
The property, named the Gertrude Mthombeni House, is situated at Number 41 Fort Street between Second and Third Avenue in Bulawayo.
The party offices in question were named in honour of the late veteran trade unionist, who had also served as a national executive member of the original MDC party led by the late Morgan Richard Tsvangirai.
The offices have been used successively by the MDC, MDC-T, MDC Alliance, and most recently, CCC for their political activities and operations.
After Chamisa departed from the CCC in January 2024, youths associated with him took over the party’s offices, repainting the premises from the previous yellow colour to blue, and also hanging Chamisa’s portrait on the precast wall of the building.
The blue colour is associated with a new political movement being spearheaded by former CCC members Gift Ostallos Siziba and Moses Chibaya, who have claimed that Chamisa will eventually lead this emerging faction.
In response, the CCC faction led by Sengezo Tshabangu took legal action, seeking spoliation damages from Chamisa and his supporters over the unauthorised occupation and rebranding of the party offices.
Tshabangu and his colleagues argued that Chamisa’s supporters forcibly took “control, occupation, and possession” of the building by painting the whole offices and precast wall, which was “unlawful, prejudicial, and amounts to spoliation.”
However, in the latest development, the MDC has gained control, with the courts awarding Mwonzora’s party US$90,000 as compensation from the CCC. Said Mwonzora:
We were in Bulawayo to officially hand over our offices to the provincial leadership. As you know, our offices in Fort Street were occupied by criminals who came and took our offices and painted them yellow. Then the criminals came again and repainted them blue.
As the MDC, we thought enough was enough and decided to take our offices back.
One, the courts ruled that we must get our offices back, and two, the courts said the MDC must be paid US$90,000 by the CCC for having used these offices.
Mwonzora said that the party plans to utilise the anticipated US$90,000 it expects to receive from the CCC as part of its mobilisation efforts in the Matabeleland region.
Mwonzora added that the MDC will also move to reclaim its party offices in other areas such as Gwanda, Hwange, Gweru, and Kwekwe that were previously occupied by the CCC and its affiliates.
Furthermore, Mwonzora revealed that he had sent written notifications to Chamisa, Tshabangu, and Welshman Ncube informing them of the MDC’s intentions, but claimed that they did not respond to his correspondence. He added:
We are not talking about possession. We are talking about ownership, and we do own the property. It is in the name of the MDC.
We have the title deeds and bought this property from a prominent businessman in Bulawayo well before 2011 and well before the CCC was formed.
This was well before Sengezo Tshabangu became the Sengezo Tshabangu that we know today, well before Nelson Chamisa abdicated his party.
More: Pindula News