Nelson Chamisa, the former leader of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party, says it is almost impossible to effectively run a political party in Zimbabwe’s dictatorial environment.
While the ZANU-PF-led Zimbabwean government ensures that elections are held on schedule, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) frequently bans most of the opposition’s planned political rallies, and political activists are sometimes arrested on questionable charges.
The police regularly invoke the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (MOPO), which governs public gatherings, processions, and demonstrations, to ban opposition rallies.
Furthermore, the opposition operates in an environment of politically motivated violence, as well as a biased judiciary and state-controlled media that are heavily skewed in favour of the ruling party.
Posting on X, Chamisa said it is not easy to lead and run a political party without adequate financial resources.
The former ICT Minister in the Government of National Unity (GNU), said the widespread poverty afflicting the Zimbabwean population creates an extremely challenging context for political organizations to function and mobilize support.
Chamisa also highlighted that when some people are elected as Members of Parliament or Councillors, they do not serve the citizens but exploit these positions for personal gain, mistaking representation and deployment for employment opportunities.
He said despite these daunting circumstances, serving the people requires great sacrifice, and expressed determination to persevere. Wrote Chamisa:
It’s not easy to lead and run a political party in a dictatorship especially without a budget and in an environment of extreme poverty. It’s even worse when this is all in a context of massive unemployment where some occupy public office opportunistically mistaking citizens’ representation and deployment for employment. It’s a difficult environment. What an impossible task!! But then to serve is to sacrifice. Change must happen. The job will get done!
Chamisa resigned from CCC early this year due to what he described as the party being “contaminated” and “hijacked” by proxies of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU PF.
In a statement, Chamisa stated that the original vision of the CCC had been compromised, and he accused the ruling party of infiltrating and undermining the CCC from within.
More: Pindula News