THE mass recall of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) legislators and councillors has pushed party leader Nelson Chamisa to come out of his shell as he is expected to address a major rally in Chitungwiza today.
CCC has been left deeply divided after self-imposed secretary general Sengezo Tshabangu started recalling the party’s MPs and councillors as he claimed that they were no longer members of the party.
Tshabangu has been working with some former MDC Alliance MPs and other activists who are mainly from Bulawayo, but the fallout has seen some of Chamisa’s longtime allies such as Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube being targeted by CCC activists, especially online.
Biti and Ncube have repeatedly disassociated themselves from Tshabangu, but this has not stopped the trolls from hounding them amid indications that their relations with Chamisa are now seriously strained.
It has since emerged that the 45 year old leader is now under pressure to publicly state his position on the two and the future of CCC.
Chamisa was expected to address the rally at Chibuku Stadium amid revelations that he is insisting that CCC did not inherit MDC Alliance leadership structures while defending the sidelining of the opposition stalwarts.
The former ICT minister led the formation of CCC last year after losing control of the MDC Alliance to his former ally, Douglas Mwonzora.
The CCC has not held any elective congress and all officials who previously held senior positions in the MDC Alliance are considered ordinary members.
Insiders said this fuelled divisions in the CCC cockpit, which have now burst out into the open.
Disgruntled members accuse Chamisa of creating a ‘kitchen cabinet’, which he consults in the day to day running of the party.
A kitchen cabinet is a group of unofficial or private advisers to a political leader and also refers to a group of trusted friends and associates.
Recently, Biti accused Chamisa of creating fake social media accounts to attack him.
Disgruntled CCC members, some who are close to Chamisa, told The Standard of their increasing discomfort about being sidelined and reduced to mere spectators.
“He has surrounded himself with a kitchen cabinet made up of lawyers like one particular one who operates from the Advocates Chambers who doubles up as a motivational preacher and seems to survive on motivational tweets (X posts),” said one insider.
“He has also relied on lan Makone and Jameson Timba to run strategy and elections, the same people who were in the late Morgan Tsvangirai’s kitchen cabinet who were known for causing rifts.”
Some of Chamisa’s trusted lieutenants include organising secretary Amos Chibaya and deputy spokesperson Gift Ostallos Siziva.
Another disgruntled member said: “Our president Nelson Chamisa believes that he was sent by God to help Zimbabwe.
“He believes he is the chosen one; that he is the solution and that belief has led him to jettison from structures and constitutionalism.”
“He is now the CCC chief who has combined all roles into one, and into his office.”
All posts were “abolished” when Chamisa unveiled the CCC.
Tshabangu’s recalls have been targeting elected representatives believed to be loyalists of the leader of the country’s biggest opposition party.
Last week, Ncube, the party’s former vice president, was questioned by party supporters about his silence over the recalls with some even accusing him of being the brains behind Tshabangu.
Ncube responded by saying he did not have an official platform to criticise Tshabangu, a statement insiders said exposed how the old guard and other senior officials felt sidelined.
CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi yesterday said Chamisa was aware of disloyal people in the CCC.
“Both allegations are false and baseless. Infact, for a long time the president has been surrounded by disloyal people,” Mkwananzi said.
“We want the president to be surrounded by people who share his vision for a great Zimbabwe not by people who want to be MPs or councillors and when they fail they go berserk trying to burn the whole house.
“We want the president to have a dynamic team of young and old, reflecting our multifaceted societal composition.”
A top CCC member in Chamisa’s circle added: “Honestly speaking, how does it happen where some people want to import the MDC or People’s Democratic Party (PDP) culture and structures into the CCC?
“The CCC is a new baby with its own leader and structures.”
Biti was the leader of the PDP after he broke away from the late Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T, but returned to the fold, alongside Ncube and others at the formation of the MDC Alliance ahead of the 2018 elections.
The two were instrumental in shielding Chamisa in the leadership tussle that followed the death of Tsvangirai ahead of the elections.
On Friday , Chamisa used the social media platform (formerly Twitter) to accuse his critics of spreading falsehoods to discredit, vilify and malign him.
Mkwananzi said today’s rally was an end of year interface with the citizens to provide direction on the way forward.”
Source – the standard