The officers had been on suspension after they were accused of supplying vital party information to state security agents late last year.

They were officially relieved of their duties two weeks ago amid allegations that a witch-hunt is intensifying in the party.

 The letters of termination of employment seen by The Standard were signed by MDC-T human resources and administration director Kudakwashe Matibiri.

The officers were neither brought before a disciplinary committee nor were they given terminal benefits, some after working for the party for nearly a decade.

Authoritative sources last week said the security officers were victims of an intense power struggle between party secretary-general and Finance minister Tendai Biti (pictured) and Tsvangirai’s advisor Ian Makone.

They said Tsvangirai wanted the officers reinstated but some members in the Biti faction were blocking the move as they had already employed people who are allegedly loyal to the Finance minister.

A countrywide restructuring exercise carried out by the party has also seen Biti loyalists landing influential posts, according to insiders.

The Biti faction is reportedly positioning itself to land key posts at the party’s congress next year, the sources said.

Last week, the party hastily convened an emergency Standing Committee meeting to discuss the issue of the fired officers after they threatened to take the matter to the Labour Court for arbitration.

The 12-member national standing committee is chaired by Tsvangirai and is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the party. It reports to the national executive.

The meeting resolved that the officers be reinstated but the party’s administration department declined to do so allegedly “on orders from above”.

“It was discussed at both the party’s standing committee meeting and finance committee and they resolved to reinstate them but senior officials in the administration department blocked the reinstatement on orders from above,” said one of the sources.

Sources alleged Biti ordered the blockage.

“They (Tsvangirai and Biti) are fighting their own war at our expense,” said one of the affected officers.

“It is surprising that we are being branded sell-outs and yet we risked our lives in all the past elections in which our colleagues lost their lives.”

The officers claimed that MDC-T had been infiltrated at senior levels including the Standing Committee and National Executive because some of the information they were said to have passed on to CIO agents included privileged secrets known by a few people in the party.

“They claim to be a labour-based party and yet they cannot handle a small labour dispute. They are worse than Zanu PF,” said one of the officers.

Repeated efforts to get a comment from Biti were fruitless.

Matibiri said he was not qualified to comment on the matter.

“I am not mandated to speak on any party subject. Can you please speak to the spokesperson of the party Honourable Nelson Chamisa,” he said.

Chamisa denied reports of a power struggle between Tsvangirai and Biti. He also claimed that no security officer was fired.

“We are a workers’ party,” said Chamisa. “We just don’t fire people.

“Phone me later. I might not be privy to some details.” 

The MDC-T has strong links with the country’s largest labour body, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which ironically fights for workers’ rights.

One of the officers said there were camps among workers at Harvest House pitting those from the President’s office (Tsvangirai) in 2nd and 5th floors against those in the administration department on 6th floor, which is run by the secretary-general.    

However, what has sent shivers down the spine of MDC-T is the threat by the security officers to seek recourse from the courts. The party fears that route might result in some critical secrets being laid bare.

Some of the officers have damaging party information about the goings-on at Harvest House and were heavily involved in the MDC-T “rescue operation missions” in 2008.

Over 200 MDC-T supporters were killed during the period between the March and June 2008 violent elections.

Sources said the ongoing reshuffles in the party were an attempt by Makone, Tsvangirai’s most trusted ally to counter Biti’s growing influence in the former opposition party.

They said Biti is not directly challenging Tsvangirai but was trying to close any gap for Makone, who is said to be determined to take over the post of secretary-general from the Finance Minister.

Last week, Tsvangirai replaced his spokesperson James Maridadi with former party director of information Luke Tamborinyoka.

Tsvangirai also reshuffled his cabinet in June in what insiders in the party said was a culmination of a witch-hunt against officials believed to be aligned to Biti.

The Finance minister survived the restructuring exercise.

Early this year, MDC-T director-general Toendepi Shone and security director Chris Dhlamini were assaulted by youths allegedly belonging to a faction in the party allegedly led by Tsvangirai.

The youths still mill around the party’s headquarters even though they are said to have been fired.

The case against Shone and Dhlamini was that they belonged to Biti’s faction.

Dhlamini, who was suspended in May this year, has since been replaced by Emmanuel Chimwanda, a former top police officer.

By The Standard