04 March 2022
Prosperity Sikhosana
The yellow jagernaught is coming to town.
Citizens Coalition for Change President, Nelson Chamisa, will take his campaign rally to the City of Kings and Queens having addressed supporters in Harare’s Highfields Zimbabwe ground, mingled with more supporters in Gokwe where the rally was affected by overzealous Zimbabwe Republic Police as well as addressing thousands who braved the violence in Kwekwe last Sunday.
The Bulawayo rally has the same objective as in other towns, to campaign for CCC candidates for the 26th March by-elections to replace Members of Parliament and Councilors who were recalled by Douglas Mwonzora.
The rally is penciled for tomorrow Saturday, at White City Stadium and will begin at 10 am.
The number of supporters for the CCC rallies has been significantly higher than expected for a newly formed party.
Nelson Chamisa abandoned the historical symbolic name MDC-Alliance after the Zimbabwe courts handed the party and asserts to Douglas Mwonzora on technicalities found in the Party’s constitution.
After Mwonzora assumed power of the party he went on a spree to recall several MPs and councilors who were voted under the MDC-A banner because they refused to toe his line.
Those who were recalled preferred to remain under Chamisa leadership.
What has boggled the mind is why the Zanu-PF leadership is so wary of CCC. The ruling party leadership has continued to jester Chamisa even after their shenanigans stripped him (Chamisa) of the party name, asserts and money from the Political
Finances Act.
The Zanu-Pf leadership is ever pronouncing vile against Chamisa and his party.
Last Saturday at a rally in Kwekwe, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, is quoted having said,
“I have heard others here saying down with triple C, let me assure you that there is nothing that it can achieve, you see how we crush lice with stone? You put it on a flat stone and then flatten it to the extent that even flies will not make a meal out of it. That is what we are going to do to CCC,” threatened Chiwenga.
The following day, Sunday, when Chamisa was addressing his supporters, hooligans who are alleged to be Zanu-PF supporters attacked members of CCC who had gathered to listen to their leader.
The attackers pounced with spears, machetes and catapults resulting in several CCC supporters being injured and the death Mboneni Ncube.
The number of those in hospital has risen to 22 and unconfirmed reports say another supporter has succumbed to wounds attributed to the attack.
16 culprits were arrested by Kwekwe police as the perpetrators of the violence that occurred in Kwekwe. Of the 16, three were said to be Zanu-PF card holders (Perscy Mukwaturi, Edmore Shoshera and Sydney Samanyayi).
Acting on tip off the ZRP found the suspects hiding at a base at Jersey Gardens in Kwekwe, a place owned by former state Minister Owen Mudha Ncube.
The former minister has not been arrested nor questioned over the incident.
In Gokwe, the CCC rally was also characterised by violence and abuses of human rights.
This time it is the law enforcers who were found to be on the wrong. The police sent a prohibition notice for the campaign rally which they had previously granted permission. CCC sought and were given a High Court order to continue with the Gokwe Rally.
Supporters who had already gathered at the venue on the day of the rally were sprayed with water laced with bitter to skin chemicals and were then teargased and had running battles with the police all over the small town.
It is after Chamisa had mingled and taken a walk with his supporters in Gokwe that Vice President issued a warning likening CCC party to lice that is crushed on a stone.
In an interview with Zim GBC News, CCC spokesperson Gift Ostallos Siziva said this time they are more careful hence they do not expect any violence in the rally tomorrow.
“We’ve made one of the most important decisions and one of those is that we are not going to hold a rally on a public space (open space). Number 2: we have increased our security, our youths are on high alert and our security department in the party is there.
“Our priority is to secure the freedom of movement of Citizens and also to ensure that no life is lost on account of politics,” commented Siziva when asked about the ongoing violence on CCC rallies.
The democratic space in Zimbabwe is still shrunk, there is no tolerance of opposing minds.
Surprisingly other parties such as Mwonzora’s MDC-T do not receive all these threats and violence from the Zanu-Pf leadership as well as Zanu-Pf hooligans.
Perhaps CCC Party is seen as a threat to Zanu-PF.