Welshman Ncube tears into Chamisa

**Nelson Chamisa, flanked by Tendai Biti, left, and Welshman Ncube**

Zim Now Writer

Citizens Coalition for Change acting president, Welshman Ncube, has laid into former party leader Nelson Chamisa of turning opposition outfit into a one-man band before he unexpectedly resigned.

Chamisa resigned from the party last month alleging that it had been infiltrated after interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu took over control and recalled scores of legislators and councillors.

The CCC was unveiled in January 2022 after Chamisa again lost control of the MDC Alliance to Douglas Mwonzora.

The CCC has since split into three distinct factions: One led by Chamisa’s loyalists and fronted by Jameson Timba, another one by Tshabangu and the one which has coalesced under the MDC 2019 structures, with Ncube emerging as its first acting president.

Ncube, Tendai Biti and Lynette Karenyi-Kore are acting CCC presidents on a 90-day rotational basis.

Ncube, speaking to CITE, took a dig at Chamisa’s leadership style, alleging that it caused the current crisis obtaining in the opposition.

“We got here because we now had a situation where(by) collectively, the democratic collective leadership no longer worked as one and we were unable to meet as elected individuals, as elected leadership, to address the challenges that we were facing,” he said.

Ncube added that fundamental differences haunted the party and key meetings and other platforms for engagement had been suspended.

“We had suspended meetings of the national council. Some of us believe that we are fighting Zanu PF which is authoritarian, which is undemocratic and which has one centre of power. We must demonstrate that we are the opposite of Zanu PF,” he said.

“We must do while in opposition things we are expected to do when we get into government, not running an autocratic, an authoritarian, theocratic opposition then expect sincere genuine people to believe that once in power, you no longer believe in autocracy and theocracy.

“These are the differences we had in opposition.”

Ncube said he was elected to be the first acting vice president of the opposition because of his seniority.

“Now that the president of the party had resigned and dissociated himself with the party, it was necessary for us to step up to the plate, to take responsibility and to ensure that the party is brought back on track, and hence that we will rotate,” he said.

“And the standing committee decided that I will go first as being the most senior of the three vice presidents as elected at Gweru, so that, therefore, I have been mandated in the next 90 days to do all that I can, working with the other vice presidents, working with the secretariat of the party, working with the rest of the departments of the party to address the challenges that the party face today.”

While distancing himself from Tshabangu, Ncube also said that he last spoke to Chamisa two months ago.

Initially it appeared, Biti and Ncube were some of the opposition party’s bigwigs behind Tshabangu as they sought to snatch the party from Chamisa, who has not announced his next move since his resignation from the CCC.

Although only three legislators have chosen to resign in solidarity with Chamisa, the bulk of them have opted to stay put, arguing there was no clarity on the way forward.