The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube Sunday News Reporter
THE beleaguered opposition party, MDC-T Bulawayo province is reportedly recruiting desperate unemployed youths in the city to take part in its forthcoming demonstration to be held in the city with the promise of funding for various projects if they participate. 
The party is further going around the districts, training the youths on MDC-T slogans and chant songs to be sang during the demonstration that has been slated for this Saturday.
On Thursday the opposition party got the green light to stage its planned demonstration in the city after High Court Judge, Justice Martin Makonese ordered the police not to interfere or interrupt the march noting that the police were being unreasonable and infringing on the people’s rights to freely demonstrate.
The demonstration is set to commence at the Bulawayo City Hall Car Park at 10am and end at King Lobengula Kraal along Masotsha Ndlovu Avenue at 2 pm.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba recently said the rowdy behaviour exhibited by some supporters was the reason why sometimes they were reluctant to clear such gatherings.
In the latest developments it has emerged that despite the police initially not clearing the demonstration, the party’s provincial leadership led by its youth chairperson, ward one councillor Mlandu Ncube were busy on a recruitment drive to avoid a flop which will expose the waning fortunes of the party.
Party sources revealed that the organisation was also considering hiring buses for people from other provinces who will pretend to be from Bulawayo during the demonstration.
“Previously the party strongly relied on its relation with the Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association but with the high levels of corruption that have been levelled against Bulawayo councillors led by the provincial chairperson, who is the city’s Deputy Mayor, Councillor Gift Banda, this relation has turned to the worst.
“The party now has no option than to look for other ways of recruiting people to attend the demonstration. Further they are looking for people they will trust not to turn the demonstration into an opportunity to question Clr Banda and his councillors hence the move to train and dangle a carrot of promise of fund injections after the march,” said the source.
Another source further claimed that the party was snubbing members of the MDC Veteran Activist Association with fears that they might fuel factional fights during the demonstration.
“It is a known fact that the province is already heavily divided therefore the party’s vice president Ms Thokozani Khupe has told the leadership not to entertain any VAA members fearing that these people might embarrass them during the demonstration.
“The order is that if need be these members will be singled out and shown to police details with the purported charge of them attempting to disrupt the otherwise peaceful demonstration,” said the source.
Contacted for comment the party’s provincial organising secretary, Councillor James Sithole, confirmed that they were training people who would attend but said this was simple to train them on orderly conduct.
“Yes, we are training our members but it’s on orderly conduct, we want our members to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner knowing that we are a peace loving party but for further details please contact our information department, they are the ones who are allowed to speak to the media,” said Clr Sithole.
The party’s provincial deputy spokesperson, Mr Felix Mafa, also confirmed that they were training some of their youths but said these were marshals who will be tasked with monitoring their members during the demonstration.
“Yes, the High Court has given us the go ahead with our demonstration, we know that there will be some people trying to disrupt the march hence we have been recruiting and training marshals who will be tasked with monitoring the demonstration.
“Their task will be to close all infiltrators and people with violence in their DNA, this demonstration will be a peaceful one, which is the reason to recruit and train these people,” said Mr Mafa.
MDC-T last month held a similar demo in the capital where its rowdy supporters flooded streets in Harare’s Central Business District and disrupted traffic flow and harassed Harare City Council workers prompting police to warn the opposition party’s leaders that they would not be allowed to infringe on the rights of innocent citizens. During the protest, a Choppies Supermarket security guard was hospitalised after sustaining serious injuries at the hands of the marauding MDC-T supporters who ran amok in the wake of an address by party leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai calling for the unconstitutional removal of President Mugabe from power.
