News / National
Chamisa's CCC preparing for a fight back
10 Oct 2023 at 05:07hrs | Views
Reeling from a heavy blow of losing 15 MPs in parliament delivered behind-the-scenes by its bitter rival Zanu-PF, with the support of the Central Intelligence Organisation-run Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ), the opposition CCC is threatening to draw a line in the sand and take a stand to fight back.
This comes as Zanu-PF pushes desperately for a two-thirds parliamentary majority after the recent widely rejected chaotic elections that produced an illegitimate leader yet again.
The Nelson Chamisa-led party is under growing siege, with attacks on it intensifying.
Zanu-PF wants an absolute majority to be able to change the constitution for self-serving political agendas, including a possible third term bid for President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is officially 81 and will finish at 86 in 2028.
If he goes for a third term and wins, then he will finish at 91.
His mentor and predecessor Robert Mugabe was 91 when he ousted him in a coup in 2017 after 37 years in power and 40 years at the helm of Zanu-PF.
However, in reality those who know Mnangagwa say he is actually 85, meaning he will be 90 in 2028.
If he goes for a successful third term, then he will finish at 95.
The renewed confrontation between Zanu-PF and CCC also comes after the opposition boycotted Mnangagwa's state-of-the-nation address last week.
This heightened political tensions and hostilities between the two parties and their leaders.
The situation is now becoming increasingly uncertain amid calls for protests to change the power relations and balance of forces on the ground.
The CCC is also contemplating withdrawal from parliament, while Tshabangu thinks of also recalling Chamisa, insiders say.
This a perfect storm for a new political crisis in Zimbabwe, which is destabilising the region.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is engaged in private talks with Mnangagwa over the situation. They have now met three times inside a month.
Meanwhile, the CCC, pushed into a corner, is gradually becoming militant.
CCC spokesperson Promise Mkhwananzi said:
"We will not accept such disdainful conduct against our constitution and our democracy in Zimbabwe.
"We are lodging the fight for the right to vote, the right of choice and the respect and supremacy of our constitution.
"Zanu-PF has undermined and subverted the will of the people for far too long. We have to stand up now."
Some CCC leaders have rallied behind Chamisa in his hour of need as his leadership is now on trial, while the party is besieged amid escalating attacks.
Gift Ostallos Siziba said: "Let it be known, here and now- l belong to the Citizens Coalition for Change as led by President Nelson Chamisa."
Newly-elected MP Fadzayi Mahere added: "No person can declare war against the citizens and win. We stand with the citizens. And we stand with President Nelson Chamisa. Tyranny is weakness. It won't last."
The MPs were recalled after Songezo Tshabangu, who claims to be CCC interim Secretary-General, wrote to Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda on 3 October saying he was withdrawing 15 MPs and 17 councillors who have left the party.
In terms of the law, any MP or councillor who ceases to be a member of the party under which he or she was elected automatically forfeits their position.
However, Chamisa has written to Mudenda twice on the matter, first on 11 September
saying all communication regarding CCC MPs should be directed to his office, and on 4 October indicating Tshabangu is not a CCC member and what he is doing is criminal.
He also said CCC has laid criminal charges against him for writing a fake letter to Mudenda and perpetrating political fraud.
Mudenda ignored Chamisa and quickly wrote to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, declaring that the MPs have been recalled, giving rise to 15 vacancies in parliament.
The recalled MPs are Pashor Raphael Sibanda (Cowdray Park); Ereck Gono (Lobengula-Magwegwe); Nicola June Watson (Bulawayo South); Desmond Makaza (Mpopoma-Mzilikazi); Obert Manduna (Nketa); Sitabile Mlilo (Proportional Representation); Jasmine Toffa (Proportional Representation); Janet Dube (Proportional Representation); Evidence Zana (Youth Quota); Morgan Ncube (Beitbridge West); Nomathemba Sibanda (Proportional Representation); Velisiwe Nkomo (Proportional Representation); Prince Dubeko Sibanda (Binga North); Bright Moyo Vanya (Lupane East) and Febion Munyaradzi (Mabvuku-Tafara).
Those targeted by Tshabangu are mainly in Matebeleland provinces.
Why?
Tshabangu, who is from Matebeleland North province, was interviewed before the elections by veteran broadcaster Ezra Sibanda bitterly complaining that the CCC was imposing candidates in the region, some of whom don't even come from there.
He said he would vote for Chamisa, but he would not accept impositions of "people from outside" Matebeleland.
The rationale of his recalls are premised on that protest and the broader Zanu-PF agenda, which he is serving willingly or inadvertently.
Prior to the disputed elections, Tshabangu and others, assisted by FAZ, tried to stop Bulawayo's 12 parliamentary candidates from running claiming they filed their nomination papers late.
The Bulawayo12 survived by the skin of their teeth.
The issue of imposition of candidates was also raised in the process at the time, showing its also a bone of contention.
The situation was worsened by reported attempts to impose a mayor in Victoria Falls who is not from there.
The fiasco worsened internal contradictions, which Tshabangu and FAZ are ruthlessly capitalising on.
Sources close to the situation say Tshabangu's motive is partly that, while FAZ exploits the grievances for Zanu-PF's political benefit to achieve a two-thirds majority.
The sources say Tshabangu and FAZ are determined to exploit the CCC's lack of a constitution, structures and positions to the limit.
Yet the real agenda at play is Mnangagwa's authoritarian consolidation and hegemony. The other issues are convenient and expedient events and factors.
This has heightened political tensions and calls for a major fight back through protests and a revolution against Zanu-PF tyranny and unmitigated failures.
While Zanu-PF was part of the liberation movement and the struggle, it has misruled the country in a way which has invalidated its claim to be a liberator.
It liberated people from colonial rule only to put them under new tyranny, meaning it is not a liberator after-all.
Some of the things it has done to local black people in the post-colonial era are worse than atrocities perpetrated by colonial regimes, especially on the human rights front.
While the colonial regime was irredeemably racist and repressive, Zanu-PF has in a different context been equally brutal, oppressive and discriminatory in its rule.
Recalled Binga North MP Prince Dubeko Sibanda said:
"On October 1, 2020, they recalled me for ceasing to be a member of the MDC-A, which I won under in 2018. We left it and formed CCC. I won by-elections on March 26, 2022, under CCC. I did so again on in the general elections on August 23, 2023. Today, they recalled us again. It's time for a revolution."
This dovetailed with views by former Zanu-PF minister and MP Walter Mzembi who said:
"It will take more than Elections to cure the curse on our Country. The ongoing 15 recalls of CCC.
Parliamentarians can at best be described as state mischief. Parliamentary democracy and the will of the People is dead. Kufa kuti fii. An absolute Pull Out of ALL Representation, including Local Government is the ONLY option under the circumstances. Kuundurwa is not a choice. Apa ndipo panotangira real politics."
On CCC's court challenge against recalls, Mzembi said: "Playing into the hands of the system with a kindergarten response to politics. Failing to read the mood!"
Political analyst Pedzisai Ruhanya said what Zanu-PF is doing is "pure brazen authoritarian politics that have huge consequences".
"Dont try to score cheap points against CCC and Nelson Chamisa in your paralysis of political analysis and jealousy enterprise. What Zanu-PF is doing against CCC, broader society is pure brazen authoritarian politics that have huge consequences. There is limit to abuse of power," he said.
"In Zimbabwe politics, the victims of abuse of political power are always wrong and the criminals are described as SMART and being STRATEGIC. What an OXYMORON!
"The argument that recalls of CCC Mps are taking place because there are no structures is lazy. Zanu-PF has no regard for due processes. How do you account for past abuses of power from Gukurahundi to June 2008; what was not there from ZAPU to MDC to account for the massacres!!
"NO STRUCTURE thesis to account for the unlawful and undemocratic recalls of CCC MPs is a mountain of BS and nonsense; how do you account for past recalls using this flawed argument; what was the excuse used in the past. Zanu-PF must just respect the will of the people, the law."
Political analyst Professor Ibbo Mandaza had this to say: "Incredible and yet hardly surprising! Mudenda has to be part of this agenda which appears by all accounts poorly thought out. The inadvertent slide into a one party state just as you have a parliament - a new one at that - with seating arrangements for both ruling and opposition."
There are antecedents to this.
Prior to this CCC senior member, and former MP and Finance minister Tendai Biti, who has now been sidelined, said Zimbabweans have to be prepared to fight for their freedom.
"My message to them is you cant outsource your struggle thinking that your neighbour will come and paint your house for you. Have the urgency to paint your house because it's in a broken state. You can not outsource your struggle. The short of it all is that there is no struggle without sacrifice," Biti told local journalist Blessed Mhlanga in an interview.
Also before the recalls, Welshman Ncube, another sidelined senior CCC member, who is also a professor of law, expressed frustration over the current situation and took a swipe at the party leadership.
"One of the late Morgan Tsvangirai's (may his soul rest in eternal peace) favourite expressions was the quote generally attributed to Albert Einstein that:
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
Zimbabwean international human rights lawyer Siphosami Malunga said Zanu-PF might have pressed a boomerang button by pushing things beyond limits.
"CCC MPs Recall: the ruling party, Zanu-PF must understand that everyone and everything has a limit. Be careful not to push people too far. There is already a palpable sense that it stole the election. The logical thing is to make things work and normalise politics. This may backfire."
This comes as Zanu-PF pushes desperately for a two-thirds parliamentary majority after the recent widely rejected chaotic elections that produced an illegitimate leader yet again.
The Nelson Chamisa-led party is under growing siege, with attacks on it intensifying.
Zanu-PF wants an absolute majority to be able to change the constitution for self-serving political agendas, including a possible third term bid for President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is officially 81 and will finish at 86 in 2028.
If he goes for a third term and wins, then he will finish at 91.
His mentor and predecessor Robert Mugabe was 91 when he ousted him in a coup in 2017 after 37 years in power and 40 years at the helm of Zanu-PF.
However, in reality those who know Mnangagwa say he is actually 85, meaning he will be 90 in 2028.
If he goes for a successful third term, then he will finish at 95.
The renewed confrontation between Zanu-PF and CCC also comes after the opposition boycotted Mnangagwa's state-of-the-nation address last week.
This heightened political tensions and hostilities between the two parties and their leaders.
The situation is now becoming increasingly uncertain amid calls for protests to change the power relations and balance of forces on the ground.
The CCC is also contemplating withdrawal from parliament, while Tshabangu thinks of also recalling Chamisa, insiders say.
This a perfect storm for a new political crisis in Zimbabwe, which is destabilising the region.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is engaged in private talks with Mnangagwa over the situation. They have now met three times inside a month.
Meanwhile, the CCC, pushed into a corner, is gradually becoming militant.
CCC spokesperson Promise Mkhwananzi said:
"We will not accept such disdainful conduct against our constitution and our democracy in Zimbabwe.
"We are lodging the fight for the right to vote, the right of choice and the respect and supremacy of our constitution.
"Zanu-PF has undermined and subverted the will of the people for far too long. We have to stand up now."
Some CCC leaders have rallied behind Chamisa in his hour of need as his leadership is now on trial, while the party is besieged amid escalating attacks.
Gift Ostallos Siziba said: "Let it be known, here and now- l belong to the Citizens Coalition for Change as led by President Nelson Chamisa."
Newly-elected MP Fadzayi Mahere added: "No person can declare war against the citizens and win. We stand with the citizens. And we stand with President Nelson Chamisa. Tyranny is weakness. It won't last."
The MPs were recalled after Songezo Tshabangu, who claims to be CCC interim Secretary-General, wrote to Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda on 3 October saying he was withdrawing 15 MPs and 17 councillors who have left the party.
In terms of the law, any MP or councillor who ceases to be a member of the party under which he or she was elected automatically forfeits their position.
However, Chamisa has written to Mudenda twice on the matter, first on 11 September
saying all communication regarding CCC MPs should be directed to his office, and on 4 October indicating Tshabangu is not a CCC member and what he is doing is criminal.
He also said CCC has laid criminal charges against him for writing a fake letter to Mudenda and perpetrating political fraud.
Mudenda ignored Chamisa and quickly wrote to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, declaring that the MPs have been recalled, giving rise to 15 vacancies in parliament.
The recalled MPs are Pashor Raphael Sibanda (Cowdray Park); Ereck Gono (Lobengula-Magwegwe); Nicola June Watson (Bulawayo South); Desmond Makaza (Mpopoma-Mzilikazi); Obert Manduna (Nketa); Sitabile Mlilo (Proportional Representation); Jasmine Toffa (Proportional Representation); Janet Dube (Proportional Representation); Evidence Zana (Youth Quota); Morgan Ncube (Beitbridge West); Nomathemba Sibanda (Proportional Representation); Velisiwe Nkomo (Proportional Representation); Prince Dubeko Sibanda (Binga North); Bright Moyo Vanya (Lupane East) and Febion Munyaradzi (Mabvuku-Tafara).
Those targeted by Tshabangu are mainly in Matebeleland provinces.
Why?
Tshabangu, who is from Matebeleland North province, was interviewed before the elections by veteran broadcaster Ezra Sibanda bitterly complaining that the CCC was imposing candidates in the region, some of whom don't even come from there.
He said he would vote for Chamisa, but he would not accept impositions of "people from outside" Matebeleland.
The rationale of his recalls are premised on that protest and the broader Zanu-PF agenda, which he is serving willingly or inadvertently.
Prior to the disputed elections, Tshabangu and others, assisted by FAZ, tried to stop Bulawayo's 12 parliamentary candidates from running claiming they filed their nomination papers late.
The Bulawayo12 survived by the skin of their teeth.
The issue of imposition of candidates was also raised in the process at the time, showing its also a bone of contention.
The situation was worsened by reported attempts to impose a mayor in Victoria Falls who is not from there.
The fiasco worsened internal contradictions, which Tshabangu and FAZ are ruthlessly capitalising on.
Sources close to the situation say Tshabangu's motive is partly that, while FAZ exploits the grievances for Zanu-PF's political benefit to achieve a two-thirds majority.
The sources say Tshabangu and FAZ are determined to exploit the CCC's lack of a constitution, structures and positions to the limit.
Yet the real agenda at play is Mnangagwa's authoritarian consolidation and hegemony. The other issues are convenient and expedient events and factors.
This has heightened political tensions and calls for a major fight back through protests and a revolution against Zanu-PF tyranny and unmitigated failures.
While Zanu-PF was part of the liberation movement and the struggle, it has misruled the country in a way which has invalidated its claim to be a liberator.
It liberated people from colonial rule only to put them under new tyranny, meaning it is not a liberator after-all.
Some of the things it has done to local black people in the post-colonial era are worse than atrocities perpetrated by colonial regimes, especially on the human rights front.
While the colonial regime was irredeemably racist and repressive, Zanu-PF has in a different context been equally brutal, oppressive and discriminatory in its rule.
Recalled Binga North MP Prince Dubeko Sibanda said:
"On October 1, 2020, they recalled me for ceasing to be a member of the MDC-A, which I won under in 2018. We left it and formed CCC. I won by-elections on March 26, 2022, under CCC. I did so again on in the general elections on August 23, 2023. Today, they recalled us again. It's time for a revolution."
This dovetailed with views by former Zanu-PF minister and MP Walter Mzembi who said:
"It will take more than Elections to cure the curse on our Country. The ongoing 15 recalls of CCC.
Parliamentarians can at best be described as state mischief. Parliamentary democracy and the will of the People is dead. Kufa kuti fii. An absolute Pull Out of ALL Representation, including Local Government is the ONLY option under the circumstances. Kuundurwa is not a choice. Apa ndipo panotangira real politics."
On CCC's court challenge against recalls, Mzembi said: "Playing into the hands of the system with a kindergarten response to politics. Failing to read the mood!"
Political analyst Pedzisai Ruhanya said what Zanu-PF is doing is "pure brazen authoritarian politics that have huge consequences".
"Dont try to score cheap points against CCC and Nelson Chamisa in your paralysis of political analysis and jealousy enterprise. What Zanu-PF is doing against CCC, broader society is pure brazen authoritarian politics that have huge consequences. There is limit to abuse of power," he said.
"In Zimbabwe politics, the victims of abuse of political power are always wrong and the criminals are described as SMART and being STRATEGIC. What an OXYMORON!
"The argument that recalls of CCC Mps are taking place because there are no structures is lazy. Zanu-PF has no regard for due processes. How do you account for past abuses of power from Gukurahundi to June 2008; what was not there from ZAPU to MDC to account for the massacres!!
"NO STRUCTURE thesis to account for the unlawful and undemocratic recalls of CCC MPs is a mountain of BS and nonsense; how do you account for past recalls using this flawed argument; what was the excuse used in the past. Zanu-PF must just respect the will of the people, the law."
Political analyst Professor Ibbo Mandaza had this to say: "Incredible and yet hardly surprising! Mudenda has to be part of this agenda which appears by all accounts poorly thought out. The inadvertent slide into a one party state just as you have a parliament - a new one at that - with seating arrangements for both ruling and opposition."
There are antecedents to this.
Prior to this CCC senior member, and former MP and Finance minister Tendai Biti, who has now been sidelined, said Zimbabweans have to be prepared to fight for their freedom.
"My message to them is you cant outsource your struggle thinking that your neighbour will come and paint your house for you. Have the urgency to paint your house because it's in a broken state. You can not outsource your struggle. The short of it all is that there is no struggle without sacrifice," Biti told local journalist Blessed Mhlanga in an interview.
Also before the recalls, Welshman Ncube, another sidelined senior CCC member, who is also a professor of law, expressed frustration over the current situation and took a swipe at the party leadership.
"One of the late Morgan Tsvangirai's (may his soul rest in eternal peace) favourite expressions was the quote generally attributed to Albert Einstein that:
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
Zimbabwean international human rights lawyer Siphosami Malunga said Zanu-PF might have pressed a boomerang button by pushing things beyond limits.
"CCC MPs Recall: the ruling party, Zanu-PF must understand that everyone and everything has a limit. Be careful not to push people too far. There is already a palpable sense that it stole the election. The logical thing is to make things work and normalise politics. This may backfire."
Source - newshawks
