Former Harare East Member of Parliament (MP), Tendai Biti, claims that he is still the Vice President of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC). In an interview with nrtvZimbabwe, he affirmed his membership in the CCC and stated that he has no plans to leave the party.
Biti expressed uncertainty about Nelson Chamisa’s resignation, saying he had only read about it in the newspapers and had not received any formal communication. He said:
I have just read things in the newspapers. So I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know whether those letters are genuine or not. But speaking for myself, I am Tendai Biti, the Vice President of the Citizens Coalition for Change and I am going nowhere.
Asked why he was contradicting Nelson Chamisa, the former party leader, who said there were no such positions in the party, Biti, a former Finance Minister said:
I don’t know who you are referring to, all I know is that there was a congress in 2019 and that Congress has not been reversed by any processes. So I am a proud leader in the CCC.
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Before leaving the CCC, Nelson Chamisa, who used to be the Minister of ICT, said that the party had gotten rid of its structures which meant there was no longer a Vice President. According to a supposed CCC constitution that circulated a few months ago, the party only had an interim president who would handle everything, including communication.
When asked about his engagement with Chamisa after the resignation, Biti reiterated that he had not been formally informed and had only learned about it through the media. He said:
I haven’t. As I said I have just read things in the newspapers. I don’t know what’s happening. No one has formally communicated to me so I can’t comment about that which is hearsay. I am a lawyer so I act on the basis of direct hard factum probandum which is hard facts. I don’t know what has happened, I don’t know what’s happening. All I can do is speak for myself and speaking for myself, I am a member of the Citizens Coalition for Change.
Amidst the confusion caused by factionalism within the CCC, Biti encouraged supporters to remember the late former Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai. He speculated on what Tsvangirai, the founding leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), would say or do in such a situation. Biti suggested that Tsvangirai would urge unity among the citizenry until Zimbabwe achieves freedom. He emphasized the need to continue the struggle for democratic change.