Opinion / Columnist
Chamisa surrounded himself with advisers who are no wiser than himself
25 Nov 2023 at 09:12hrs | Views
CCC under the influence of Chamisa refused to have a constitution for CCC under the pretext that this was "strategic ambiguity " to side football Zanu-PF. This actually turned out to be a cowardly act of dribbling seasoned politicians like Biti, Welshman and others.
He then surrounded himself with cronies and clueless novices, who are wet in the ears and whose distinction so far has been a history of student activism spiced with hooliganism.
Chamisa surrounded himself with advisers who are no wiser than himself only because he feels safe with them and there is no risk of challenge to his unbridled quest for power. That strategy destroyed the credibility of the party.
To make matters worse Chamisa went into an election with no structure, no constitution and no vision and still expected to win.
Effectively he went to an election with no identity. He created and fostered conditions of " strategic ambiguity" that have come back to bite him in the posterior.
No one knows who the clandestine leadership of CCC are. Mr S Tshabangu forcefully identifies himself as the Secretary General of CCC. Mr Chamisa pompously identifies himself as "the Change Champion" Both have no one challenging their position.
No one is clear what the change is about. No one is wiser as to what Mr Chamisa is purporting to be championing. We all know, though, that anyone who installs himself in any modern political party as a champion is a usurper of democracy.
There is an identity crisis at and about CCC. This ranges from the complete absence of governance documents to the bankruptcy of democracy. The turmoil that is in CCC is a culmination of Mr Chamisa's naivety in trying to run a modern political party as if it was a family grinding meal where the man just puts his name and picture on the wall and the rest of the family members are incognito.
Prof Moyo has alerted the nation on what is called Wapusa Wapusa in the way Mr Chamisa is running the CCC. That characterisation invokes the hideous practices of a denomination without morals or an organisation with disturbing confusion. The striking similarities here are that without a constitution, everything goes at CCC. There is no direction, no values and no boundaries.
According to Prof Moyo, Mr Chamisa has, with the help of chosen but highly misled and misleading cronies, drafted the most pitiable constitution.
For a start, the party is called the Citizens Coalition for Change. Ironically there is one citizen who is really Mr Mbimbindoga CHAMISA. We all know that proper constitutions must be and are an outcome of wide consultation with stakeholders. If there was a true and genuine coalition, Mr Chamisa would have consulted with each stakeholder on the coalition. Sitting down with a former University clownish activist is not consultation. The process of constitution-making is broad, consultative, informed and robust. A clandestine mission in coming up with a weird document is no consultation.
I have not and I need not look into the substance of the weird constitution. If, as in this case, a democratic process has not happened, then we have an aspiring president who, if given a chance, the nation would wake up to discover that he has crafted a new constitution with his cronies. The change he talks about is about him and he is championing selfish objectives.
It is difficult to even imagine how bizarre things can get with Mr Chamisa. According to Professor Moyo, in one of the clauses, Mr Chamisa names himself as the president! Even our elderly folk sitting in a beer garden could not dare name a person as the chair of their burial society. Mr Chamisa does not get it that a constitution is a governing document which lays down fundamental values and rules. It is impersonal. It does not promote a person. It promotes an institution. It may lay down the rules of a leader but it does not enshrine a human being. There is no greater greed and abuse of power than Mr Chamisa enjoining himself as leader.
The constitution has just been unilaterally imposed. There are now legal and serious questions as to whether the CCC entity which went into elections in August is the same as the one that has just been single constituted by Mr CHAMISA.
The initial lack of organised purpose made the High Court make this decision. In a summary by Prof Moyo Here is what the High Court found and determined, in its own words:
"On the background of all the above issues, what stands out is that the first respondent's letters to the presiding officers of Parliament satisfied all the requirements under s 129(1) (k) of the Constitution. In addition, he attached annexures ‘ST2', a document addressed to the third respondent which showed that he was designated by the CCC as its officer. There is nothing to rebut that other than the belated and discredited letters of Nelson Chamisa. He went out of his way to prove what he ordinarily was not required to prove. The applicants failed to produce their party constitution or any document which showed that the first respondent could possibly not have held the position he claimed he held. It was simply their word that he wasn't. That is not enough. Contrary to counsel's allegation that the first respondent conceded that he was not a member of the CCC party, his opposing affidavit has claims in innumerable paragraphs saying he is a bona fide member and official of that party with authority to write correspondences of recalls like he did. The onus to prove entitlement to the declaratory orders sought was on the applicants. They did not even begin to discharge it. They have not established their case on a balance of probabilities as required by law and are therefore not entitled to the declaratur which they seek. The other relief was consequential upon the grant of the declaratur. It should also fail."
So CHAMISA and Tshabangu's party are simply receiving the bonus of mismanagement.
He then surrounded himself with cronies and clueless novices, who are wet in the ears and whose distinction so far has been a history of student activism spiced with hooliganism.
Chamisa surrounded himself with advisers who are no wiser than himself only because he feels safe with them and there is no risk of challenge to his unbridled quest for power. That strategy destroyed the credibility of the party.
To make matters worse Chamisa went into an election with no structure, no constitution and no vision and still expected to win.
Effectively he went to an election with no identity. He created and fostered conditions of " strategic ambiguity" that have come back to bite him in the posterior.
No one knows who the clandestine leadership of CCC are. Mr S Tshabangu forcefully identifies himself as the Secretary General of CCC. Mr Chamisa pompously identifies himself as "the Change Champion" Both have no one challenging their position.
No one is clear what the change is about. No one is wiser as to what Mr Chamisa is purporting to be championing. We all know, though, that anyone who installs himself in any modern political party as a champion is a usurper of democracy.
There is an identity crisis at and about CCC. This ranges from the complete absence of governance documents to the bankruptcy of democracy. The turmoil that is in CCC is a culmination of Mr Chamisa's naivety in trying to run a modern political party as if it was a family grinding meal where the man just puts his name and picture on the wall and the rest of the family members are incognito.
According to Prof Moyo, Mr Chamisa has, with the help of chosen but highly misled and misleading cronies, drafted the most pitiable constitution.
For a start, the party is called the Citizens Coalition for Change. Ironically there is one citizen who is really Mr Mbimbindoga CHAMISA. We all know that proper constitutions must be and are an outcome of wide consultation with stakeholders. If there was a true and genuine coalition, Mr Chamisa would have consulted with each stakeholder on the coalition. Sitting down with a former University clownish activist is not consultation. The process of constitution-making is broad, consultative, informed and robust. A clandestine mission in coming up with a weird document is no consultation.
I have not and I need not look into the substance of the weird constitution. If, as in this case, a democratic process has not happened, then we have an aspiring president who, if given a chance, the nation would wake up to discover that he has crafted a new constitution with his cronies. The change he talks about is about him and he is championing selfish objectives.
It is difficult to even imagine how bizarre things can get with Mr Chamisa. According to Professor Moyo, in one of the clauses, Mr Chamisa names himself as the president! Even our elderly folk sitting in a beer garden could not dare name a person as the chair of their burial society. Mr Chamisa does not get it that a constitution is a governing document which lays down fundamental values and rules. It is impersonal. It does not promote a person. It promotes an institution. It may lay down the rules of a leader but it does not enshrine a human being. There is no greater greed and abuse of power than Mr Chamisa enjoining himself as leader.
The constitution has just been unilaterally imposed. There are now legal and serious questions as to whether the CCC entity which went into elections in August is the same as the one that has just been single constituted by Mr CHAMISA.
The initial lack of organised purpose made the High Court make this decision. In a summary by Prof Moyo Here is what the High Court found and determined, in its own words:
"On the background of all the above issues, what stands out is that the first respondent's letters to the presiding officers of Parliament satisfied all the requirements under s 129(1) (k) of the Constitution. In addition, he attached annexures ‘ST2', a document addressed to the third respondent which showed that he was designated by the CCC as its officer. There is nothing to rebut that other than the belated and discredited letters of Nelson Chamisa. He went out of his way to prove what he ordinarily was not required to prove. The applicants failed to produce their party constitution or any document which showed that the first respondent could possibly not have held the position he claimed he held. It was simply their word that he wasn't. That is not enough. Contrary to counsel's allegation that the first respondent conceded that he was not a member of the CCC party, his opposing affidavit has claims in innumerable paragraphs saying he is a bona fide member and official of that party with authority to write correspondences of recalls like he did. The onus to prove entitlement to the declaratory orders sought was on the applicants. They did not even begin to discharge it. They have not established their case on a balance of probabilities as required by law and are therefore not entitled to the declaratur which they seek. The other relief was consequential upon the grant of the declaratur. It should also fail."
So CHAMISA and Tshabangu's party are simply receiving the bonus of mismanagement.
Source - The Herald
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