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Political Editor
The MDC Renewal Team yesterday suspended its treasurer-general Mr Elton Mangoma for bringing the name of the party into disrepute and fanning factionalism.

This follows accusations that Mr Mangoma snatched the wife of a youth leader, Mr Believe Tevera, which led to the pair trading blows and the subsequent hiring of “thugs” by Mr Mangoma to beat up Mr Tevera and other party members last week.

Last night, Mr Mangoma expressed surprise at the purported suspension, saying he had only received phone messages at 4pm inviting him to a hearing at 9am today while a statement released by the party indicated that he refused to appear for a hearing.

In the statement, which was co-signed by management committee members, Messrs Bensoni Ntini and Solomon Madzore, the Renewal Team said Mr Mangoma had committed “serious offences”.

The statement read: “We have no doubt in our minds that Mr Mangoma in trying to respond to allegations against himself has failed to meet the standards expected of a senior party member and has himself gone on to commit offences against the party as more fully appears below:

a) he coordinated youths and a vigilante group to assault members of the party;

b) he brought the name of the party into disrepute;

c) he caused and has been a centre of divisions in the party, causing serious dysfunctionality of the party. We find his role in the coordination and sponsoring of violence against party members to be overwhelming.”

It is alleged that on the day of the Eastlea violence, the gang of youth and hired “thugs” were ferried and transported using Mr Mangoma’s car and one of the “thugs” was later seen providing the respondent with personal security.

The party took exception to the press conference that Mr Mangoma held ostensibly to clear his name, saying he “dragged the entire party and some party leaders into his private social matter”.

The party accused Mr Mangoma of having “unbridled ambition” and employing “unorthodox , illegal and uncouth means to fulfil his perhaps childhood ambition to be a president of something or anything before nature takes him.”

Last night, Mr Mangoma questioned the composition of the committee that suspended him and suggested that chucking him out was premeditated by his erstwhile comrades.

“It shows a culmination of what they have been planning. I was the one who was beaten, and while I’m in hospital they go ahead and suspend me,” he lamented.

This is the latest of nasty twists in the opposition MDC movement after Messrs Mangoma, Biti and others left the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T last year after the party lost the July 2013 elections to President Mugabe and Zanu PF while Tsvangirai’s political career has been besmirched by sexual scandals.