Tshabangu asco: Chamisa running out of options
CITIZEN Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa has been left with little room to manoevre but to have a sit-down with his nemesis Sengezo Tshabangu, to avoid having his party being snatched away from him, analysts said.
Chamisa launched the CCC in January 2022 after losing control of the MDC Alliance to Douglas Mwonzora.
The MDC Alliance was formed by several political parties ahead of the disputed 2018 elections before Mwonzora wrestled the name and its symbols from Chamisa.
The CCC was thrown into chaos late last year after Tshabangu emerged from nowhere and claimed to be the interim secretary general before he startedcalling the shots.
In court, Tshabangu has also submitted his own copy of the CCC constitution arguing that there was nobody referred to as the bureau of administration as suggested by Chamisa’s allies.
Chamisa has dismissed Tshabangu as an imposter, saying he was not a member of the CCC.
He has also accused Tshabangu of being a weapon used by Zanu PF to destroy the opposition from within.
Tshabangu has, however, gone on to recall a number of CCC councillors, Members of Parliament (MPs) and senators, triggering the holding of byelections.
The first set of by-elections were held on December 9 last year where the ruling Zanu PF snatched seven out of the nine contested seats.
Another set of by-elections will be held on February 3.
Chamisa has also delivered severe blows on Chamisa by stopping his candidates from contesting the December
9 and pending February by-elections.
On Friday,
High Court judge Justice Pisirayi
Kwenda ruled that the recalled MPs and councilors had ceased to be CCC members and were not reinstated as such could not contest under the party.
Political analyst Innocent Kagodora said Chamisa was left with no option, but to negotiate with Tshabangu to save his CCC from total annihilation.
“If CCC leadership is to redeem itself, one would recommend the following as a matter of urgency: a need to establish democratic structures based on a constitution,” Kagodora said.
“There is need to engage the Tshabangu faction and establish a common ground.
“Wanton accusations of Tshabangu being a regime agent will not pacify the disgruntled quota.
“Chamisa should put his pride aside and provide solid leadership on the ground.”
Chamisa set aside structures upon launching the CCC with his fierce supporters saying this was necessary to avoid infiltration by Zanu PF and state spies.
Kagodora, however, said infiltration was inevitable and was part of politics.
“Even during Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle the Rhodesian security forces sought to infiltrate the guerilla forces,” he argued.
“It’s important that the CCC leadership finds each other and establish a unified position on how to counter the shenanigans of its nemesis.”
Kagodora argued that CCC’s troubles were rooted in a lack of clear ideological and strategic vision.
“In as much as it argues that it seeks to dislodge Zanu PF, it has failed to elucidate its guiding ideology and strategic vision,” he
said.
Political analyst Hamadziripi Dube echoed the same sentiments, saying Chamisa was left with little options to avoid losing total control.
Reports emerged last week that Chamisa and his allies were mulling forming a new party.
“Chamisa leaving CCC and forming another party will be a good sign of failure,” Dube, however, said, adding that the move will be costly.
“Dropping the name CCC and forming a new outfit is suicidal to Chamisa as he is going to lose the party representatives in parliament and senate.
“The idea is costly to him, the party and nation at large if they decide to withdraw from parliament leading to by-elections.”
Last year, there were reports that emissaries from Chamisa and Tshabangu’s camp had at least two formal meetings in November to try and find common ground.
Sources said hardliners from both camps scuppered the talks.
A research associate at South Africa’s Wits University, Gideon Chitanga, said the CCC power struggles were inevitable
“The emergence of Tshabangu is a combination of Zanu PF and just the failure of Chamiisa and the leaders in the CCC to make probably the correct strategic choices going forward,” Chitanga argued.
Chitanga also said sidelining several stakeholders, including the old guard and other party members sowed seeds of discontent in the opposition party.
“There is a need for intellectual engagement; to bring back intellectuals. That debate is needed to shape policy and to inform strategies,” he said.
“You cannot have a whole movement that runs the main cities in Zimbabwe and potentially want to run a government popping up decisions, which are ill-informed.
“There is need for broader reengagement with the broader movement.”
Chitanga added: “The displacement of the older generation of opposition leaders is unfortunate. These people have value.
“If not in terms of ideas, they could be used to at least manage emotions within the movement.
“I believe that the CCC should be a movement that reflects the diversity of Zimbabweans in terms of tribe, in terms of race, in terms of intellectual persuasion, at least as they call it a citizen’s movement, but also institutionally, these diverse groups should be represented in the key structures of leadership.”
Chitanga said Chamisa was facing his sternest leadership test.
“So, if nothing at all happens, we are at a critical moment where Chamisa and all the other leaders in the democratic movement will be judged by history in a very harsh way as having proactively worked to destroy our opposition politics in Zimbabwe, what many Zimbabweans sacrificed for since the 2000s,” he said.
A number of activists have lost their lives for supporting the MDC since its formation in 1999.
IN 2008, over 200 MDC supporters lost their lives during the lead up to a presidential run-off election.
The late MDC T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai had won the first round of balloting against President Robert Mugabe, also late, but the results were not enough to send him to State House.
A violent run-off election campaign, blamed on Zanu PF supporters, followed forcing Tsvangirai to pull out of the polls.
Mugabe contested against himself, but he never gained any legitimacy and was forced into the negotiating table with Tsvangirai resulting in the formation of a unity government.
Over the years, a number of opposition supporters have also been left nursing permanent injuries from torture, abducted and killed by suspected state spies and Zanu PF activists.
Ahead of the December 9 by-election, a
CCC activist Tapfumaneyi Masaya was abducted and killed.
Analyst Leopold Chakanyuka said feuding CCC camps needed to find each other and rebuild the MDC Alliance offshoot.
“So what I think, you know, moving forward, these people need to do is either to find each other, you know, the Tshabangu faction and the Chamisa faction, they have to find each other and after finding each other, they can actually make, you know has been suggested is either to leave the CCC again and go and form another political party but that will mean that they will be doing that over and over again as long as they don’t address the issues that have been affecting them,” Chakanyuka said.
“They will continue to form different political parties but still be followed by the exact same challenges because as I have said before, they had similar problems in MDC Alliance, they went to form CCC but again, they were followed by the same challenges.
“So moving forward, I think the CCC needs to be organised, call for a proper congress, have a proper structure and come up with a proper constitution which will guide the operations of their party.”
Another analyst Regai Cheuka echoed similar sentiments.
“This political impasse could have been avoided by decentralisng authority and setting up solid structures,” Cheuka said.
“Moreso, Chamisa is a victim of a political sickness called the hubris syndrome; hubristic individuals tend to overestimate things such as their abilities, knowledge, importance, and likelihood of success.
“This has misled him into multiple confrontations with Tshabangu ,a decent way forward to avoid more damage would be to make use of more diplomatic approaches which are not coercive.”