Mnangagwa has no chance of winning 2023 election, says Chamisa

CITIZENS Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa has boldly claimed he will be Zimbabwe's next president, saying Zanu-PF leader, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has no chance of winning next year's presidential election.

He said this in his address to multitudes of CCC supporters at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, Harare, who defied police restrictions and marched to the venue after the law enforcement agents barred them from using buses and mounted roadblocks on all major roads.

Chamisa also took a swipe at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) saying his party will wage a sustained war against the electoral body until it addresses allegations of manipulating the voters roll and alleged mismanagement of elections.

"I am going to govern this country whether you like it or not, you saw change happening in Zambia and it is going to happen here," Chamisa declared.

Chamisa said CCC had tasked some "experts" to analyse the voters roll, which exposed anomalies.

He said some of the anomalies included creation of additional polling stations and moving people from polling stations without their consent.

Chamisa said the party would engage in protests until the electoral body adhered to its mandate as stipulated in the Constitution.

"We commissioned experts to analyse the voters roll. I had been tipped off by some senior government officials that the document was being tampered with.  We have infiltrators in government departments — we have infiltrated all government departments," Chamisa said.

"We will not let Zec get away with its manipulation. Starting with this by-election, if Zec does not address these anomalies, it will not be well.  There will be instability in the country. On the issue of voter manipulation, do not panic. We have strategies.

"The first strategy is to ensure that Zec policies are compatible with the Constitution. If they don't heed our demands, then we will take legal remedies. But we know that the courts may not be able to deliver justice fairly. We have our own solution. We will go to the streets. We will protest against Zec."

Last Thursday, Zec disowned the voters roll that is being analysed by civic society organisations and suspended some of its employees for allegedly leaking a copy of the national voters roll and sharing the "tampered" document with an unnamed stakeholder.

Chamisa also encouraged teachers to continue fighting for their rights, demanding better salaries. He promised that his "government-in-waiting" would improve their conditions of service when it assumes power.

Teachers have been on strike since schools reopened two weeks ago, demanding better salaries.

In response, the government said it would fire teachers who would not have reported for work by tomorrow and replace them with college graduates.

"Teachers are wallowing in poverty. Civil servants have become poor. Teachers have made their demands clear. They want their Mugabe (the late former President Robert) era dignity to be restored. What is happening now? Teachers are being victimised, they are being abused, and they are being fired and accused of being aligned to Chamisa," the CCC leader said.

CCC by-election campaign launch at Highfields Zimbabwe Grounds, Harare

"I am not the poverty.  They want better salaries. Teachers — don't be intimidated. Fight for your rights, for the meantime, but when we are in power, we will restore the dignity you had during Mugabe's era. A teacher is the foundation of the development of the country. A teacher is the guardian of the destiny of any nation. A teacher is the compass of civilisation. All civil servants, the army, police and the central intelligence know that if this government has failed you, then you have to replace it with a capable government."

The youthful leader told his supporters that CCC was a new political outfit, which had not yet elected its executive as consultations with the "people" were underway.

Speaking at the same event, former Zanu-PF youth leader Godfrey Tsenengamu said he was rallying behind Chamisa's promise to turn around the economy.

Tsenenagmu, now leader of the Front for Economic Emancipation in Zimbabwe, said: "I was there (in Zanu-PF). I rose through the ranks up to the central committee. I am one person who supported the removal of Mugabe, hoping that he (President Emmerson Mnangagwa) would turn things around. Some people thought that he (Mnangagwa) meant change and we supported him, but we realised that there is no change. We thought looting (which took place) under Mugabe would end, but it has become worse. I am here because I support gatherings where issues of development are being discussed. We may have different ideologies, but something for sure is that you (Chamisa) are a force to reckon with."