Opinion / Columnist
Is today a birthday, a funeral or a resurrection for CCC?
24 Jan 2024 at 15:15hrs | Views
On this 24th day of January in 2022, the then MDC-Alliance unveiled Triple C, which the National Council of the MDC-A had founded two days earlier on 22 January 2022.
The unveiling of Triple C on that day was done by Nelson Chamisa in his capacity as President and Chief Spokesperson of the MDC-Alliance, amid high hopes and great expectations; in the company of members of the Standing Committee of the MDC-Alliance, who included Charlton Hwende and Job Sikhala, whom Mahere identified by their MDC-Alliance titles, as she introduced Chamisa.
Notably, Triple C was unveiled after the MDC-Alliance decided to contest the 26 March 2022 by-elections under a new platform, in response to a decision by the MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora, to contest those by-elections under the banner of the MDC-A, which it said was its election platform, like it was in the 2018 general election, as per the interparty electoral pact signed on 5 August 2017 by Morgan Tsvangirai and seven or so leaders of other opposition political parties.
Following its unveiling on 24 January 2022, Triple C has been bedevilled by internal strife over its structures, constitution and leadership, which became full-blown after the harmonised 2023 general election, on 23 September 2023, when Chamisa effectively announced the formation of a new CCC; with a new one-man, Chamisa-centred constitution that's radically different from the one that the MDC-Alliance which was used to found Triple C on 22 January 2022; and to unveil it on 24 January 2022.
This development - coupled with simmering differences that had rocked the fledgling party's candidate selection and nomination processes for the parliamentary and local authority seats - precipitated an internal revolt highlighted by the recall of MPs and Councillors who associated themselves with the new CCC announced by Chamisa on 23 September 2023; who were deemed to have ceased to be members of the 22/24 January 2022 CCC party; in terms of section 129 (1) K of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The saga of the recalls, which has largely played out in the courts, has sharply divided opinion within Triple C and about C within society.
What is clear is that the endgame of the saga remains to be seen, with reports that the squabbling factions are engaged in serious intraparty "unity" talks, the most recent being last Saturday, 21 January 2024, in Bulawayo.
Meanwhile, the question within and about Triple C is whether today - 24 January - is a birthday commemoration of the party's second anniversary; or a funeral, mourning the death of what seemed to be a promising party 24 months ago; or a celebration of the resurrection of CCC, via the ongoing intraparty 'unity" talks, from a near-death experience less than 24 months after its formation.
Which is which, is the question; the rest is current history!
The unveiling of Triple C on that day was done by Nelson Chamisa in his capacity as President and Chief Spokesperson of the MDC-Alliance, amid high hopes and great expectations; in the company of members of the Standing Committee of the MDC-Alliance, who included Charlton Hwende and Job Sikhala, whom Mahere identified by their MDC-Alliance titles, as she introduced Chamisa.
Notably, Triple C was unveiled after the MDC-Alliance decided to contest the 26 March 2022 by-elections under a new platform, in response to a decision by the MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora, to contest those by-elections under the banner of the MDC-A, which it said was its election platform, like it was in the 2018 general election, as per the interparty electoral pact signed on 5 August 2017 by Morgan Tsvangirai and seven or so leaders of other opposition political parties.
Following its unveiling on 24 January 2022, Triple C has been bedevilled by internal strife over its structures, constitution and leadership, which became full-blown after the harmonised 2023 general election, on 23 September 2023, when Chamisa effectively announced the formation of a new CCC; with a new one-man, Chamisa-centred constitution that's radically different from the one that the MDC-Alliance which was used to found Triple C on 22 January 2022; and to unveil it on 24 January 2022.
This development - coupled with simmering differences that had rocked the fledgling party's candidate selection and nomination processes for the parliamentary and local authority seats - precipitated an internal revolt highlighted by the recall of MPs and Councillors who associated themselves with the new CCC announced by Chamisa on 23 September 2023; who were deemed to have ceased to be members of the 22/24 January 2022 CCC party; in terms of section 129 (1) K of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The saga of the recalls, which has largely played out in the courts, has sharply divided opinion within Triple C and about C within society.
What is clear is that the endgame of the saga remains to be seen, with reports that the squabbling factions are engaged in serious intraparty "unity" talks, the most recent being last Saturday, 21 January 2024, in Bulawayo.
Meanwhile, the question within and about Triple C is whether today - 24 January - is a birthday commemoration of the party's second anniversary; or a funeral, mourning the death of what seemed to be a promising party 24 months ago; or a celebration of the resurrection of CCC, via the ongoing intraparty 'unity" talks, from a near-death experience less than 24 months after its formation.
Which is which, is the question; the rest is current history!
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