United States-based Zimbabwean software engineer Freeman Chari has warned CCC leader Nelson Chamisa that he risks finding himself in the political dustbin if he continues to centralise and personalise the party while excluding other people.
In an X thread, Chari also warned Chamisa that Zimbabweans are tired of Bible verses which he posts on social media regularly, and that he should ensure that supporters can contribute and participate in the party’s activities and in crafting its vision. Wrote Chari:
1. Here is what is happening. Prior to the elections, there were 3 groups of people. – Those who supported Chamisa & CCC – Those who supported CCC in spite of Chamisa – Those who supported Chamisa in spite of CCC. CCC in this case is the grp of people who loosely are remnants of MDC.
2. There is also another nomenclature. – Those whose political fortunes flourished by association with NC – Those whose political fortunes dimmed by being sidelined from NC.
3. The only thing common in these classifications was the general agreement that ZANU PF has to go. The formation of CCC was abrupt & haphazard. There was no consensus on what this animal was, how it was going to operate and who will operate it. Disdain of ZANU kept people together.
4. Initially we thought people were carrying over their responsibilities from MDC-A but slowly the idea of a formless entity was pushed. This had 2 issues. There were no responsibilities and there was no accountability. Everything became centralized and inefficient.
5. The impact of this was there for all to see. Nobody could move unless directed by the only person who seemed to have a position – Nelson. Those who had critical responsibilities started abdicating and those gaps could be seen. Within CCC people spoke about this in hushed tones.
6. This is important in the context of the 2nd nomenclature. The biggest calculation by most of the “leaders” in CCC was that, opposing NC publicly was a bigger risk to their own parliamentary ambitions. So people went on & even supported bad decisions for their own interests.
7. It became a festival of bootlicking. Now, there is also a group of people to which I belong who felt that NC was the best foot forward and should be given the leeway to test his ideas so that if he wins he wins by them, or if he fails he fails on his own inadequacies.
8. The assumption was that only rational ideas were going to be pursued. The doctrine of strategic ambiguity became his primary weapon. Even those of us who supported him sometimes had no idea what he wanted, expected or intended to do. It became hard to be proactive.
9. There were others who chose to disengage completely because they felt NC was taking the movement in the wrong direction. Most of the people I have worked with previously in MDC and other social organizations were in this category.
10. As we got closer to elections, it became clear that the process of choosing candidates was not going to be a traditional vote by members (Since CCC doesn’t have any) The process itself was shady & shoddy but for the purposes of the greater goal we swept stuff under the carpet.
11. The process produced candidates some of whom were there on the basis of bootlicking or gatekeeping or blatant backstabbing. We went into a flawed election and supported them. The problem is that for most of them being an MP or councillor was an ultimate end goal.
12. If you want to know some of them, they took ma $40K in the last parliament and justified it in spite of our general disdain for fiscal maleficence. You will also find that they are the same people who pushed for participating even with a flawed delimitation, no VR & no reforms.
13. When it became clear that the election was going to be unfair, the same group would not contemplate pulling out. Even as I & others advised NC that he needed to declare the whole electoral process a sham, “The Parliament By All Means” group pushed back.
14. So we ended up with an incoherent response to the sham elections where we accepted MP results and then claimed: “The election was rigged”. The “Defend our space” crowd weakened our position & made it hard to even justify. My opinion remains we should have rejected everything!
15. The unfortunate part is that NC’s position was weakened by the fact that some MPs claimed they had used their own resources to campaign and therefore needed to recoup their investments somehow from parliament etc.
16. We are now in a position where our people don’t know what to expect. They have no idea what should happen next. This is complicated by the fact that people who traditionally filled in certain positions have new responsibilities and nobody is there to keep CCC intact.
17. Anyway, remember the group that supported CCC in spite of NC most of them fell by the wayside in the struggle for parliament. The unfortunate part is that this group has most of the people who have institutional memory, understand statecraft & experience in building organisations.
18. They have disengaged and at the same time, the grp that used to fill in the gaps and plug holes are either Mayors, MPs or Councillors. They have new responsibilities, now the party’s buttocks are in the open and no one seems available to cover them.
19. This has provided an opportunity for those who opposed NC to go for the jugular. The biggest challenge for NC is that he is exposed and has no shock absorbers around him to defend & articulate his vision & strategy. Every arrow aimed at him seems to be hitting him.
20. On the other hand, the people going after him have nothing new to offer. They are not going to win because they are not capable of doing anything differently from NC. Actually, anything they may have as leverage NC probably has 10x that.
21. To be an alternative to Chamisa you should be willing to explore the realms that NC has not explored in the past – Mass Protests – Violence – War etc None of those wanting to dislodge him have the willingness or inclination for these.
22. NC has one card that most of these people do not have – mass appeal. Unfortunately, things can turn & he can become a comma in history. Remember Zexie Manatsa used to fill Rufaro Stadium but like dew, he evaporated. The 2016 rise of Mawarire is a lesson, he could have taken chunhu.
23. The task at hand is to build CCC & restore faith is huge. What I don’t know is whether NC has the capacity to handle it. It requires him to do things differently from his form. He will need to rely on other people, he will also need to accept that his ideas were tested & came short.
24. Finally, people are tired of verses. They need direction. They need to know if the struggle is OK. They need assurances that investing their resources, time and emotions in this thing is worth it. Provide a conduit for them to be members so they can contribute & participate!
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