Chamisa not losing sleep

The MDC Alliance said it was not fazed on Monday after a new political party appeared to have hijacked one of its social media mobilisation slogans which some were advocating for to be the new party name.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's spokesman George Charamba posted a screenshot of a letter still being typed, and addressed to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, announcing the formation of the Citizens Convergence for Change (CCC) party.

The party's secretary general, one Farai Zhou, gave a post office box address in Vuhera (Buhera), and put down a Bulawayo law firm for all communications.

The same letter was also posted on Twitter by Zanu-PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu, sparking speculation that Zanu-PF had used proxies to register the name.

Citizens Convergence for Change has been gaining momentum on Twitter as a hashtag, with pro-democracy activists and MDC Alliance officials using it to mobilise first time voters and get volunteers to adopt polling agents in the 2023 elections. Some thought it should be the name of a new coalition built around Nelson Chamisa's leadership.

Exiled former cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo last week warned the MDC Alliance to take the necessary legal steps to protect CCC as a name to outmaneuver proxies that wanted to capitalise on the main opposition's political clout.

MDC Alliance secretary general Charlton Hwende, responding to Moyo, noted that the biggest impediment was the judicial process where "president Emmerson Mnangagwa has pliant judges that are being used to disregard legal steps which will ordinarily protect a political party."

The letter from the CCC party, dated Monday, September 20, said one Varaidzo Musungo would be the party's candidate for 2023.

MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said her party was not "distracted" by "shenanigans" orchestrated by "imposters" that sought to deter the opposition from encouraging its supporters to register to vote.

"These are the shenanigans we spoke of when we stated we wouldn't lay bare our strategies for the regime to try and pull the rug from under our feet. For us, this is a non-event. We remain focused on our goal of securing six million votes," Mahere said.

"We are in the middle of a nationwide voter registration campaign and have set in place mechanisms to ensure the vote is protected," she added.

The MDC Alliance has been under pressure to change its name after its former secretary general Douglas Mwonzora – with heavy backing from Zanu-PF and state institutions – claimed his MDC-T party was now called MDC Alliance.

Mahere said: "We haven't changed our name. We are the MDC Alliance. Should there be any changes, they will be communicated using official channels.

"The people want change and they know who their leaders are. Citizens are coming together in a broad alliance to win Zimbabwe for change under the able leadership of the people's president Nelson Chamisa."

Reacting to the new CCC party, expelled Zanu-PF MP for Chivi South Killer Zivhu said: "I laughed. Do they hope that will stop Chamisa? Even if he registers a party called January to December, as long as he is leader, he starts with a guaranteed two million voters."