SERIOUS infighting has erupted in the Sengezo Tshabangu-led Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) as some of his backers are now baying for his blood accusing him of being captured following the statement he released after Nelson Chamisa dumped the opposition party.
In response to Chamisa’s statement announcing his resignation on Thursday last week, Tshabangu said the CCC leadership had resolved that power and authority would collectively reside in the national leadership elected at the MDC Alliance Gweru national congress held in 2019.
CCC steering committee chairperson Dingilizwe Tshuma dismissed Tshabangu’s statement saying it was null and void. In his statement last week, Tshabangu said the CCC leadership elected at the Gweru congress had convened an emergency meeting to consider both the contents of Chamisa’s statement and its immediate implications.
He also claimed that the leadership had appointed vice-president Lynette Karenyi-Kore as the leader of opposition in Parliament.But Karenyi-Kore refused to take up the position while backing Chamisa.
However, Tshuma said the 2019 structure was nullified by the court that gave the MDC to Thokozani Khupe and eventually to Douglas Mwonzora.“He has been captured. Where was this collective leadership all along when recalls started? Why is it emerging now? In any event, they have made statements distancing themselves from the SG. They are correct because they did not appoint him.
“It was in the steering committee that appointed him. So, we expect our SG as they appointed him to come and account for his statement. So, the interim steering committee distances itself completely from his statements,” Tshuma said.
Tshabangu spokesperson Khaliphani Phungeni lamented the death of democracy in Zimbabwe.“It is a bad day for democracy, one that could have been avoided. We needed an adult in the room, unfortunately, both parties had to take responsibility for the call up because at some stage they talked about negotiations,” he said.
“There was a time when pastors were deployed, and no one is now referring to that dialogue. We should not be this radical with this people’s project.“The SG is saying they are trying to stabilise the party. It’s not all lost, they are trying to negotiate with the change champion-in-chief and we are hopeful that there is still room for negotiations.”
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