Political Reporter

The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) president, Nelson Chamisa, has distanced that party from the violence that erupted at Moreblessing Ali’s funeral in Nyatsime, Chitungwiza, putting all the blame on Job Sikhala for inciting the people.

A source who spoke to this publication said Chamisa was irked by the Nyatsime violence and has accused Sikhala of being the architect of that violence that left a trail of destruction in that area.

“Chamisa has distanced himself and the party from the violence that erupted in Nyatsime at Moreblessing’s funeral. Chamisa made it clear that the violence was not sanctioned by that party and he blamed Sikhala for inciting people,” said the source.

The source added that since the violence in Nyatsime, Chamisa has been inundated by phone calls from western embassies that were angry at how the CCC members engaged in violent behaviour.

According to the source, the western embassies told Chamisa that the violence in Nyatsime defeated the narrative that the CCC was being persecuted in Zimbabwe. These western embassies told Chamisa that there were digital footprints of CCC members engaging in violence and it would be difficult to cleanse the image of that party.

According to the source, Sikhala incited people to engage in violence as he had an ulterior motive to expose Chamisa as a political weakling who could not stage a protest against the State.

“Sikhala was deliberate in his actions. He wanted to show the world that he was braver than Chamisa. By inciting and leading in the violence in Nyatsime, Sikhala wanted to show his western handlers that he was more militant than Chamisa. The idea was to portray Chamisa as a man with no capacity to confront the government,” added the source.

The same source said that Chamisa was not a violent person but he eventually found himself entangled in violence because of Sikhala.

“Chamisa is not a violent person but he always found himself entangled in violence because of Sikhala. In 2018, Chamisa was irked by his party supporters who had engaged in violence and he called them stupid. It’s the likes of Sikhala who are bent on portraying the CCC as a violent and non-tolerant party,” said the source.

The source further said that Chamisa has since labelled Sikhala a problematic member and has vowed to arraign him before a disciplinary committee. According to the source, Chamisa was likely to throw Sikhala onto the sidelines and he was also not likely to sign his nomination papers for the 2023 elections.

It is not the first time for Chamisa and Sikhala to be at loggerheads as two years ago, Sikhala accused Chamisa of selling him out to the police following his arrest at Sarah Mahoka’s house in Tynwald. Chamisa was believed to have sold out Sikhala as he was feeling insecure with the popularity that Sikhala was getting from his confrontational politics.