Chalton Hwende, the MP for Kuwadzana East, has lashed out at some of his fellow opposition members for trying to usurp the leadership of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
This party was formed by Nelson Chamisa in 2022 after he left the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC Alliance).
Hwende said that Chamisa, who resigned from the CCC in January 2024, had asked his supporters to wait for his announcement of a new political outfit, but some CCC officials were impatient and wanted to force him to join the Blue Movement, a rival faction of the opposition.
“Opposition is full of compromised people. The President in his letter clearly said we must wait for a further announcement. Why is there a stampede to force the President to announce his move or associate with the so-called Blue Movement?” Hwende said on Sunday.
He added that Chamisa deserved respect and support from his loyalists and that he should be given the space to form a “genuine movement with NEW people and genuine old cadres”.
Hwende condemned the violence that erupted at a CCC meeting in Harare, where some Chamisa supporters were attacked by Blue Movement supporters.
“President Chamisa abhors violence. We must all step aside and allow the President to form a genuine movement with NEW people and genuine old cadres. Let’s wait for the President vanoda zvigaro Sitereki vatofanozvipo zvigaro itai steady, let’s wait for the President,” he said.
Hwende also accused some CCC officials of being opportunists who were using Chamisa’s name to advance their own agendas.
He said that some of them were behind the recall of CCC MPs and councillors from parliament and local government, and that they were also running the CCC X Twitter account, which was supposed to be controlled by Chamisa.
“The President said he will communicate his way forward. Many people who were imposing candidates, imposing mayors and deputy Mayors and lying and abusing the President’s name are now championing the so-called blue movement. Let’s leave the President to rest and decide on the next step as he said.
“The CCC X handle is now being operated by people fired by the President who refused to hand over the passwords. We will now start talking,” he said.
The CCC, which was once the main opposition party in Zimbabwe, has been in disarray since Chamisa’s resignation, which he said was prompted by the infiltration and hijacking of the party by the ruling Zanu-PF
