Nelson Chamisa's leadership qualities and fear of elections

The Faulty Begining

 Nelson Chamisa's story in politics started with college protests against a sitting black government. The demonstrations were all about food and allowances. He was a leader of misguided students who used their stomachs to think. The demonstrations were a direct act of peer pressure without political direction or conviction. It is against this background that the leadership qualities of Nelson Chamisa become questionable today.

Rhodesian Leanings 

 When Nelson Chamisa left college he moved into the newly formed and Rhodesian-sponsored Movement of Democratic Change. The MDC was sponsored by the land-dispossessed white settlers and fronted by Morgan Tsvangirayi. Nelson Chamisa by joining the MDC makes him a sellout from my point of view. The MDC under Morgan Tsvangirayi and on behalf of its Rhodesian sponsors called for and assisted in the drafting of the ZIDERA sanctions bill in 2001. Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti had the guts to beg for an extension of the ZIDERA sanctions in February 2018. The very act of a black Zimbabwean flying to Washington DC and sitting in the United States Senate and calling for an extension of sanctions against his own people and country is disgusting. There is no sane Zimbabwean who can trust an unpatriotic person and character like Nelson Chamisa to be the President of Zimbabwe.

 Nelson Chamisa an Unelectable Dictator 

 Nelson Chamisa has not only displayed dictatorial and dishonest from the very day he lied that he had been "appointed" by Morgan Tsvangirayi to lead MDC-T after the latter's death. He was never elected to be a leader of MDC -T and even avoided going to congress. Nelson Chamisa dodged the MDC-T congress and formed the MDC Alliance. It is a fact that Nelson Chamisa had to form and appoint himself President of CCC formation after the courts stopped him from using the name and offices of the Movement of Democratic Change. The fact to all Zimbabweans is that Nelson Chamisa has not been in any party elections since the year 2013. 

Our question as Zimbabweans, is how can a person who has never contested in his own party or party win national elections? How can a person who leads an unelected and structureless entity win an election? 

 The 2023 Verdict 

 The truth is that Nelson Chamisa will not win the 2023 election because of the question of legitimacy, his stance of supporting sanctions and the gap between his structureless group of friends from the grassroots electorate. He cannot be the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Of Congress, Chaos and Democracy

 The story going around is that the Citizens Coalition for Change Leadership wants to go into the 2023 general elections without going to congress.  It is a surprise move coming to people who claim to be champions of democracy. The people of Zimbabwe are surprised and confused that in 2022 a democratic party can not hold a free and fair selection of its leadership. Nelson Chamisa has handpicked a clique of his friends and cronies and catapulted them into the CCC leadership and executive without the approval of the general membership of the party.

 The CCC membership has got an imposed executive and leadership but has it got the right candidates to contest an election? Where are the so-called structures which will coordinate the party's activities? Are Zimbabweans stupid enough to vote for imposed candidates? Democracy must prevail over dictatorship and cronyism.

 Nelson Chamisa has been talking about rebranding after losing the name of the party, the party headquarters and his leadership of the MDC. I believe it is time that he recognises that he must change his tactics of bulldozing and imposing himself on people. It is time he recognises that without following due processes he will definitely lose support and will lose the elections come 2023. 

Is CCC a party or just a group of Nelson Chamisa's friends and bootlickers? I would like to quote Methuseli Moyo of ZAPU who said "Without a congress, CCC remains a collection of friends deploying each other into positions. As such, they be handicapped to challenge ZANUpf on any issue to do with democracy and procedure". It is a fact that Nelson Chamisa lost the 2018 elections and what if his membership wants to change candidates? This was reflected in the March by-election when the CCC imposed a candidate, Regai Tsunga in Mutasa South, and it lost the seat to ZANUpf. 

What we see here, the so-called paragons of democracy are denying their membership their democratic right to choose candidates of their choice by dodging Congress. It is not the first time that Nelson Chamisa has dodged congress. He smuggled himself into Harvest House after the death of Morgan Tsvangirayi without following due processes and the party's constitution. He went on further to hold a sham congress at midnight in Gweru. It is a habit only found in dictators.

CCC Yellow Baby And ZANUpf Old Habits

 A new baby or a New Yellow baby Suit??

 Nelson Chamisa claimed that the party he had formed was a new party. This was despite the fact he remained an unelected leader of the new party. The MDC Alliance leadership was and is the same CCC leadership. The CCC stance and narrative on sanctions echoed the MDC Alliance calls. The confusion to the voter was apparent.

The confusion manifested itself in Sakubva . Although Nelson Chamisa claimed to have filled the Sakubva Stadium, the majority of people in ward 4 voted for the  Zanu-PF candidate. The people actual voted the same in Mutasa South where Regai Tsunga lost about 2000 voters as compared to the 2018 elections. 

Of Supporters, Floating voters and Members

It is important to note that the floating voters affect the bye-election. The floating voters are the sympathisers. These are the voters the politicians prey on. These are people whom we see being given freebies by politicians. The freebies can be money, food and t-shirts.

It is a fact that CCC has sympathizers and supporters while as  ZANUpf on the other hand has members. Supporters and floating voters have little or no conviction to participate in elections. They need to be incentivised while members can easily be mobilised to vote through their organisational structures.  Members who are mobilised have a  duty to vote.

The floating voter is the CCC advantage in urban areas and is a ZANUpf disadvantage in urban areas. Membership and coherent structures are ZANUpf's strengths in the rural areas and CCC's weaknesses. Chamisa has no structure to talk about in rural areas.

This was reflected here in Manicaland in the Dangamvura/Chikanga and Mutasa South  by-elections 

Old Habit And Wrong Candidates selection

The choice of candidate does matter in an election. It is folly to put up an unpopular candidate like Isau Mupfumi. He is a perennial loser and also a bad loser. The ZANUpf leadership were fooled at the primaries. Mupfumi lost the primaries and there was no way he could win the by-elections.

The CCC leadership also used its undemocratic "consensus" to impose Regai Tsunga on the people of Mutasa South and cost them the elections.

The  Mutasa South residents supported Misheck Mugadza who had won the ZANUpf primaries free and fairly. The ZANUpf candidate is well known as a community developer and hence loved in the area.

The outgoing CCC MP lives in the urban part of his constituency and is rarely seen in the rural parts of his constituency.

Who won the Elections?

As a parting shot, ZANUpf won an extra Member of Parliament seat in Manicaland. Democracy won the by-elections. Imposition of candidates by consensus or threats lost the elections. That is the lesson for 2023 Elections.

The Coalition of Confused Citizens

The proclamation of the by-election by the President of Zimbabwe has caused the opposition parties to react differently. The MDC-T paid a visit to the State House and urged the President to "bring genuine, inclusive and unconditional dialogue. Our proposed dialogue issues include political, social and economic reforms." said Senator Douglas Mwonzora. 

 There was a completely different reaction by the Chamisa-led MDC Alliance. It was not only the proclamation of the by-election, which caught Nelson Chamisa and friends by surprise but the visit to the State House by Douglas Mwonzora. The visit to State House by the MDC T delegation was distorted by MDC Alliance social media brigade as a move to have the by-elections stopped. 

 The noise on social media by the Chamisa Chete Chete brigade was a reflection of the unpreparedness for the by-elections. The so-called MDC Alliance ( led by Nelson Chamisa) has no political structures to talk about. It is a loose group of people opposed to the MDC-T.

The proclamation of the by-elections scuttled and unsettled Nelson Chamisa's plans. He was left with no choice but to come up with a new name. A new party called  Citizens Coalition for Change was formed from the ashes of the so-called MDC Alliance. The effect of this name change will have some effect on the diehard MDC Alliance supporters. It is bound to cause confusion for both the supporters of MDC-T and the general public on voting day.

Nelson Chamisa claimed that he had formed a new party without any changes in its leadership, ideology and empty party structures. This was to culminate in the party fielding multiple candidates on nomination day. This confusion on both the nominee and supporters was fuelled by an undemocratic imposition of preferred cadres by "consensus". The process caused the party to fail to field some candidates in some areas.

The MDC Alliance supporters who supported Chamisa are now confused with the whole process. The electorate will have to accept the candidates selected by the CCC leadership and not their choices. This undemocratic process will cost the new party dearly at the polls.

We are going into the by-elections having a coalition of confused citizens. Let the fun begin!!!!