Charles Motsi
Nelson Chamisa has been on the Zimbabwean political scene for over two decades now and he has managed to rise through the ranks of opposition politics because of his unique ability to woo crowds with his outrageously false campaign promises.
However, to be a true leader and a statesman, one needs to move beyond the power of the mouth into the real world where action is a more valued currency.
Lies and political bantering can only take you so far, this is what Chamisa has failed to master. His new party, Citizens Coalition for Change, made all the right noises in February 2022 when it was launched. Alas, it was only a high sounding nothing.
The party was launched without the most basic document required to show the seriousness of any organisation, CCC has no constitution to this day. They cannot claim to be a serious political entity without a constitution. Even burial societies have constitutions.
A constitution is defined as a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or any other organization is acknowledged to be governed. So Chamisa and his CCC clique expect the people of Zimbabwe to hand them the responsibility to be custodians of its constitution when they do not even have one at party level. That is a totally absurd notion fit for kindergarten toddlers not serious political entities.
This is not the first time Chamisa’s outfit has endeavoured to walk before they could crawl. Patience does not seem to be one of their virtues and has on many occasions been their downfall. Chamisa lost control of his party’s asserts including the party’s Headquarters and eventually its name because he rushed to be party president ignoring the party constitution.
It was determined by the nation’s judicial processes that Chamisa did not follow procedure when he usurped power after the demise of his mentor and party founder, Morgan Tsvangirai. The case was won by Thokozani Khupe and company because they were patient enough to follow the party’s constitution to the letter, something that Chamisa could not do largely due to his lack of substance.
It comes as no surprise that CCC refuses to hold an elective congress as the congress would have to be governed by a party constitution. Without the backbone that is the constitution, no business can be conducted. One wonders why such obvious basic points are not on the top of CCC’s to-do list if they are ever to be taken serious as an opposition movement.
Conversely, without an elective congress, that party cannot have any substantive office-bearer, leaving the party with no leadership. CCC is currently run by interim appointees that were handpicked by Chamisa. For a democratic movement, this is unacceptable to say the least. It is currently a one-man show at CCC with Chamisa’s law being the only law that matters. No party with such or without such structures should ever be allowed to govern the great nation of Zimbabwe.
Chamisa’s strangling hold on the party is so intensive that the party has not and may not in future hold any primary elections. The party’s candidates will, therefore, not be from the people but will be Chamisa’s bootlickers and Yes-Men. Without primary elections, the party will have very loose grassroots and cannot claim to represent the people.
The lack of multiple voices in the running of a party breeds lack of transparency and accountability which is something Chamisa imported from his MDC-Alliance. Chamisa and his lieutenant, Chalton Hwende were fingered in a 2 million dollar missing funds scandal when they were still with the MDC alliance with Chamisa as its leader and Hwende the secretary general.
After the two million went missing, David Coltart, as the party treasurer, promised to do an audit and present the findings. No one knows if the audit was ever completed because the findings were never published. This was only one of the many cases of disappearing funds as many Go-Fund-Me funds were never accounted for including the recent funds meant to buy Chamisa a bullet-proof vehicle.
It seems those around Chamisa have finally woken up from their day dreaming and can now see through his façade as there are reports of infighting in the new party. Welshman Ncube, the co-vice president is said to be getting ready to re-launch his own MDC-N party. Tabitha Khumalo, the national chair, and Job Sikhala her former deputy are said to be absconding party activities as protest to the way Chamisa has been running the party and failure to take the party forward.
Chamisa promises the heavens when he addresses crowds, that is probably why he is popular at rallies but his lies have caught up with him. He is on record saying that he is friends with many wealthy white donors who can sponsor him at any moment. At one time he even claimed he was promised billions by former USA president, Donald Trump. However, his failure to deliver on these funds has exposed him as nothing more than a fraud.
CCC as a party, made great inroads when it was launched and now has some seats in Parliament but the honeymoon period seems to have been short-lived as people now see the lack of substance in the new outfit. The party has no constitution, it does not have any elected officials as it never had any congress and because of Chamisa’s dictatorial tendencies, there is no accountability or transparency, it will not end well for the not so new party.
