Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti, Karenyi-Kore Appointed CCC Interim Presidents Amid Leadership Crisis
The National Standing Committee of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) faction led by disputed interim Secretary General Sengezo Tshabangu, held a meeting in Bulawayo on Saturday to select an interim president for the party.
During the meeting, it was decided that Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti, and Lynette Karenyi-Kore would serve as interim presidents on a rotational basis. Each leader will serve for 90 days or three months before passing the responsibilities to the next leader. Welshman Ncube, a lawyer and former Minister of Industry and Commerce, will be the first to assume the role.
Jacob Mafume, a lawyer and the Mayor of Harare, was elected as the party’s national spokesperson, a position previously held by Promise Mkwananzi since August 2023, after taking over from Fadzayi Mahere.
The meeting also decided to reactivate the MDC 2019 congress posts, which means Chalton Hwende (Kuwadzana East MP) will resume the position of secretary general.
These office-bearers will serve until the party holds its elective congress to choose permanent leaders.
The CCC has been facing a leadership crisis since the aftermath of the 2023 harmonised elections when Tshabangu claimed that he was the party’s interim secretary general. He recalled some Members of Parliament and councillors, arguing that they were imposed on the electorate by Nelson Chamisa, the former party president and that they had ceased to belong to the party.
As the recalls continued, Chamisa resigned from the party, stating that it had been infiltrated and taken over by the ruling ZANU PF party and its allies in the CCC. Since Chamisa’s departure, factions within the party have been vying for control. Promise Mkwananzi asserted that he was the acting president until the party congress, which is yet to be announced. Additionally, some members have resigned from the party Parliament and local authorities in solidarity with Chamisa.
