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Five years down the line, someone still has to convince me Chamisa is not a Mnangagwa project

Third, Chamisa kicked out all former loyalists of Tsvangirai when the MDC Alliance went to congress in Gweru in May 2019. Instead he brought in the very people that had rebelled against Tsvangirai dating back to 2005.

Fourth, when the Supreme Court nullified his leadership in March 2020, he refused to challenge Thokozani Khupe who was made interim leader, when it was clear that he could win the elections that the court ordered. He also did not challenge his loss of the party name.

Fifth, he abandoned the MDC name totally in January 2022 to come up with the Citizens Coalition for Change, totally wiping the MDC off the map as Mwonzora is just holding on to what the party won in 2018. But he refused to launch the party (he says it was just formed but not officially launched) and has refused to set up structures or appoint a leadership. He has given several reasons for this including fears of the party being infiltrated by ZANU-PF.

This is all speculation, of course. Chamisa could genuinely be leading the CCC and may not be a ZANU-PF plant, but he has left a lot of room for people to speculate.

But if he is, what is his next move? With elections only months away, it is time to deliver. 

Chamisa’s biggest advantage, however, is that he has created a cult. He has a large mass of uncritical, almost zombie-like followers, who do not tolerate any criticism of their leader. And like their ZANU-PF counterparts, they see enemies everywhere.

(387 VIEWS)

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Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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