KEY POINTS
- ZANU-PF is prepared to dismantle any new party from Chamisa.
- Defectors from CCC received a warning to respect ZANU-PF hierarchy.
- Chamisa signaled leadership aspirations but stopped short of launching a party.
Newsday stated that Nelson Chamisa, a former leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), is planning to start a new political party, which the ruling ZANU-PF is prepared to destroy, according to Edson Chihengere, the provincial chairperson of ZANU-PF Midlands.
Chamisa rumored to be forming a new opposition party
At the Charandura Business Centre in Chirumanzu, Chihengere spoke to ZANU-PF supporters and introduced 50 people who were purportedly CCC supporters who had switched to ZANU-PF. He claimed that Chamisa’s former party, the CCC, had essentially collapsed. Chihengere stated that ZANU-PF would take action to guarantee its demise if Chamisa formed a new party.
“This [CCC] party wants to register another party,” Chihengere stated. Since the party has broken up, we are aware that there is no longer any CCC. In order to demolish it once more, we are awaiting the arrival of the new party.
He praised the defectors for their decision to join ZANU-PF, saying that President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the party leadership recognised and valued their decision. Chihengere was certain that ZANU-PF will be strengthened by these new recruits.
ZANU-PF welcomes defectors from CCC into party ranks
Chihengere, however, also cautioned such defectors from aiming to acquire powerful posts within the ruling party right once. He emphasised the importance of loyalty inside the ranks by saying, “Let me say that it’s better to openly join ZANU-PF than to be in the party without us knowing how you became members.”
At his uncle Chamunorwa’s burial ceremony in Masvingo last month. According to newsday, Chamisa spoke to supporters and alluded to his readiness to lead Zimbabwe, but he also stated that he was not yet ready to start a new party to take on ZANU-PF head-on. Prior to leaving the CCC, Chamisa claimed the party had been infiltrated after Sengezo Tshabangu, the interim secretary-general, started recalling CCC lawmakers, a move that Chamisa said compromised the party’s integrity.
