Stealing the village drum

THE Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has been thrown into disarray following the resignation of its leader Nelson Chamisa two weeks ago. In quitting CCC, Chamisa said the party had been infiltrated and was now an appendage of Zanu PF, a charge the ruling party disputes. Chamisa said CCC had been “contaminated, bastardised, hijacked and could not deliver a great new Zimbabwe”.

His resignation came after Sengezo Tshabangu installed himself as the party’s interim secretary-general and went on a spree recalling lawmakers and councillor saying they had ceased to be members of the party.

No sooner had Chamisa resigned from CCC than factions emerged in the two-year-old political formation, pulling in different directions.

One faction is recognising the 2019 structures that ushered in the MDC Alliance leadership. Another grouping has installed Jameson Timba as the chair and chief administrator of a 10-member committee to oversee the affairs of the party.

Both factions have a common denominator: They want to urge Chamisa to return to the party.

NewsDay reported yesterday that the CCC factions are tussling to lure Chamisa to return and lead the party he said had become an appendage of Zanu PF.

This is a new dimension to the CCC imbroglio.

Does it mean that these factions lack self-belief? The then CCC leader Chamisa was in the past accused of running the party like a briefcase business in which he would make all decisions within the political formation while concentrating on consolidating power for himself.

This would have been a perfect opportunity for a new leader to emerge and take charge. Senior CCC members can take up the cudgel and be the Biblical Joshua to take the party to the Promised Land, which in this case is State House.

However, it seems the protagonists know their weaknesses. They are all unanimous that Chamisa is the poster boy of the opposition movement.

So popular was Chamisa that he polled more votes than parliamentary and council candidates in the August 23 to 24 harmonised elections.

Chamisa’s pulling power was evident when he garnered 44% in the Presidential elections behind a well-resourced candidate, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who enjoyed the advantage of incumbency and had State machinery in tow.

It is that comparative advantage the CCC senior members have recognised and want to ride on Chamisa’s coattails.

Even Tshabangu who has imposed himself as the interim secretary-general of the party knows too well that Chamisa has the pulling power. This explains why he recently told the media that Chamisa “donated” his face hence the party will continue using the picture as its logo.

Without Chamisa, CCC becomes an average political party ilustrating Zimbabwe’s binary politics, where one must either root for the ruling Zanu PF or the opposition.

The opposition must swallow its pride and do everything possible to ensure it does not sink into oblivion.

Tshabangu knows that without the courts, he is a political midget in comparison to Chamisa. This explains the behindthe-scenes manoeuvres to ride on Chamisa’s name.

Tshabangu has stolen the village drum and has nowhere to beat it from quietly.