Harare | In an unexpected turn of events, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has allegedly ousted Nelson Chamisa, its founder and former president, amid a host of claims, including the theft of party finances, the encumbering of power, and cooperation with competing political parties.
The future of the party, which was founded in early 2022 and gathered significant support before the 2023 Harmonised Elections, is currently in doubt.
Sengezo Tshabangu, the controversial and self-declared interim secretary general of the CCC, gave Nelson Chamisa the boot while he still held the title of “Change Champion in Chief.” In Tshabangu’s statement, which has been extensively shared on social media, the expulsion of Chamisa was justified for a number of reasons, including financial irregularities.
Part of the statement reads,
“Advocate Nelson Chamisa has been expelled for personalizing the party as well as his continued gross disregard of the party constitution amongst other issues, including embezzlement of party funds.”
Among the allegations are the disappearance of substantial sums of money intended for various party purposes. Tshabangu detailed,
“Last year a total of USD $120,000 was raised for Advocate Nelson Chamisa’s bulletproof car, and the money disappeared.” Furthermore, USD $300,000 received from international organizations for legal fees also allegedly vanished.
Tshabangu’s statement further accused Chamisa of personalizing the party to an extent where it operated at his discretion. He noted,
“Chamisa has made the party his personal property and it is now running at his own discretion. The party symbol is his face, he makes all crucial decisions by himself and now the party is serving his personal interests, and we cannot allow that.”
Additionally, there were allegations of collaboration with ZANU PF and former ZANU PF members, resulting in an infiltration that had “high-jacked” the party.
Amidst this turmoil, Tendai Biti, a prominent figure within the CCC, has distanced himself from any leadership role in the party. Despite Tshabangu’s announcement that Biti, alongside Professor Welshman Ncube, would act as co-presidents, Biti took to social media to clarify his position. He firmly stated,
“I am not the President of any political party. I refuse to be drawn into this mess. May my privacy and dignity be respected.”
Biti’s decision to distance himself from the party leadership adds further complexity to the already tumultuous situation within the CCC.
EXPULSION OF NELSON CHAMISA FROM THE CITIZENS COALITION FOR CHANGE
With immediate effect, Advocate Nelson Chamisa has been expelled from the Citizens Coalition for Change, Nelson Chamisa has been expelled for personalizing the party as well as his continued gross disregard of the party constitution amongst other issues including:
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- Embezzlement of party funds.
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Last year a total of USD $ 120,000 was raised for Advocate Nelson Chamisa’s bulletproof car, and the money disappeared.
The party received US $ 300,000 last month from partner international organizations for Job Sikhala’s legal fees, and the money disappeared.
The party also received some US $6M part of the money was to fund the training, deployment and payment of election agents. The money disappeared, and the party couldn’t deploy agents at all polling stations, and to this day not even 1 of the recruited 55,000 agents has been paid.
USD $3M also disappeared from the party’s offshore accounts, and we got no explanation for all this.
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- Personalization of the party
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Chamisa has made the party his personal property, and it is now running at his own discretion. The party symbol is his face, he makes all crucial decisions by himself and now the party is serving his personal interests, and we cannot allow that.
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- Collaboration with Zanu PF and ex-Zanu Pf members resulted in heavy infiltration and now the party has been high-jacked.
- Abusing the party name to raise funds for his projects.
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- Tarnishing the image of the party through stage managing abductions and through inciting public violence in the name of the party.
- The imposition of candidates resulting in the loss of some constituencies and wards throughout the country
- Neglecting party loyalists and bigwigs while rewarding friends, relatives and concubines.
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- Betrayal of Job Sikhala who has been in prison for more than a year now. Advocate Nelson Chamisa embezzled money for his legal fees and also neglected his family
- Nelson Chamisa has failed to support crucial party events (October 7 Messina mass demonstration) with the potential of giving citizens victory from the stolen election while resorting to Twitter bible verses and useless parables, citizens want action!
- Chamisa has failed to petition SADC, the UN and the EU over the stolen August 23 election. Running the party along tribal lines.
- We therefore advise citizens to ignore all distractions by individuals working to derail the citizens’ movement.
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With Immediate effect, Professor Welshman Ncube and Advocate Tendai Biti are acting presidents until the party convenes an Extraordinary Congress on the dates to be advised and all official communication will be coming from the interim Secretary General’s Office.
Uncertain Future for CCC
As the CCC navigates this crisis and prepares for an Extraordinary Congress, the future of the party remains uncertain. With key figures like Nelson Chamisa allegedly ousted and Tendai Biti disavowing any presidential role, the political landscape in Zimbabwe is undoubtedly in flux.
The fate of the party and its ability to maintain its momentum will be closely watched in the coming months.
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