A ZANU PF official has claimed that the ruling party successfully dismantled the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and is now waiting for its former leader, Nelson Chamisa, to establish a new party so that it can dismantle that as well.
Speaking to ZANU PF supporters at Charandura Business Centre in Chirumanzu, where 50 people allegedly defecting from the CCC to the ruling party were publicly paraded, Midlands provincial chairperson Edson Chiherenge declared that ZANU PF was prepared to dismantle any new party Chamisa might form. He said (<a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200034848/well-destroy-chamisas-new-party-zanu-pf">NewsDay</a>):
<blockquote>
This party (CCC) wants to register another party. We know there is no longer any CCC because the party has disintegrated. We are waiting for the new party to come on board so that we destroy it again.
</blockquote>
Chiherenge expressed gratitude to the CCC defectors for joining ZANU PF, adding that both the party and President Emmerson Mnangagwa recognised and appreciated their decision.
However, he warned the new ZANU PF members not to come with ambitions of quickly seizing positions within the party.
This follows the dramatic exit of Nelson Chamisa from the CCC in January 2024. Chamisa alleged that the party had been infiltrated, claiming that self-styled interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu had taken control of the party.
Tshabangu, who was largely unknown before the August 2023 general elections, rose to prominence afterward.
He controversially seized leadership of the party through a series of court rulings and the actions of the National Assembly Speaker and Senate President, leading to the recall of numerous CCC legislators.
Tshabangu also orchestrated the recall of several CCC councillors and mayors across the country after the Ministry of Local Government acted on his recall letters.
Chiherenge’s assertion that ZANU PF had effectively destroyed the CCC could be seen as an indirect acknowledgement that the ruling party played a role in facilitating Tshabangu’s takeover, effectively undermining the opposition party.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

ZANU PF, a big political party in Zimbabwe, says it will crush any new party that Nelson Chamisa, a former leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), tries to form. They are happy that some people from CCC have joined ZANU PF. Chiherenge, a ZANU PF official, warned these new members not to expect to get top positions right away. Chamisa left CCC in January 2024 because he thought someone else had taken over the party. This person, Sengezo Tshabangu, got many CCC members removed from their positions. ZANU PF's claim of destroying CCC could mean they helped Tshabangu take control, weakening the opposition party.

ZANU PF Says It Will “Destroy” Any New Party Chamisa Forms

Former Victoria Falls mayor Somvelo Dlamini has joined ZANU PF, along with over 500 members of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) from Binga and Hwange.
According to <a href="https://vicfallslive.co.zw/former-victoria-falls-opposition-mayor-defects-to-zanu-pf-pledges-to-bring-more-supporters/">VicFallsLive</a>, ZANU PF National Political Commissar Munyaradzi Machacha welcomed the defectors, which include former legislator Patrick Nene Sibanda, former Binga Rural District chairman Munkombwe Dube, and incumbent Mbizha Ward councillor Namo Chuma, who won the 2023 elections as an independent candidate.
The group also features several other former opposition councillors, though their exact number has not been disclosed.
Dlamini, who received a 36-month prison sentence for fraud last year, expressed his commitment to recruiting more members for the party. He said:
<blockquote>
I am not coming here for positions but to build our country and defend the gains of the liberation struggle. My coming here is not a threat to anyone.
</blockquote>
ZANU PF’s Kumusha/Home/Ekhaya programme, spearheaded by former Kwekwe MP Blessing Chebundo (MDC), is designed to welcome returning members from the opposition. New members were officially welcomed in Milonga on Saturday and Sonkaba on Sunday.
Somvelo Dlamini, who ran as an independent candidate for the Hwange West parliamentary seat last year, was defeated by Vusumuzi Moyo of the CCC.
This was after his defection as one of the strong supporters of Douglas Mwonzora’s faction after a fallout with Nelson Chamisa in the then-MDC Alliance.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Former Mayor Somvelo Dlamini and over 500 people from opposition party CCC joined ZANU PF. They were welcomed by ZANU PF official Munyaradzi Machacha. Dlamini, who had a fraud case, wants to recruit more members for ZANU PF to build the country. He is not seeking positions. ZANU PF program Kumusha/Ekhaya welcomes opposition members. Dlamini lost in the 2021 elections to CCC candidate Vusumuzi Moyo. He used to support Douglas Mwonzora but switched to ZANU PF after issues with Nelson Chamisa.

Former Victoria Falls Mayor And Mwonzora Ally Defects To ZANU PF

CCC in Matabeleland South Province has accused ZANU PF of staging defections after the ruling party on Friday paraded 30 people it said had defected from the Nelson Chamisa-led party.
State media reported that ZANU PF leadership in Matabeleland South Province had welcomed more than 30 defectors from CCC in Gwanda who said they were charmed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s developmental agenda.
Speaking to NewsDay on Monday, CCC chairperson for Matabeleland South Solani Moyo said the alleged defectors were never members of the opposition party. Said Moyo:
<blockquote>
The reports are a surprise to me. We do not know those people who were paraded. We have no members who have defected to ZANU PF.
I have checked with our structures in Gwanda and they are saying they do not know those people. The whole thing is a lie, and the truth is people are tired of ZANU PF.
</blockquote>
Moyo expressed confidence CCC will win all the wards up for grabs in September 3 by-elections. These include wards 1, 14 and 16.
Meanwhile, one of the alleged defectors, Precious Nhliziyo, said they were coming back “home” to ZANU PF having been “lost” in CCC.
More: <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/2022/08/ccc-disowns-30-defectors/">NewsDay</a>

CCC Disowns 30 "Members" Who Defected To ZANU PF

A ZANU PF official says the wife of CCC interim Matabeleland North provincial chairman Prince Dubeko Sibanda, Memory, has applied to join the ruling party.
Dubeko Sibanda is also the Binga North Member of Parliament.
According to ZANU PF Matabeleland North provincial chairman, Richard Moyo, Sibanda wrote a letter to the ZANU PF leadership in the province requesting to be admitted into the party.
Moyo told State media on Monday that in her letter, Sibanda said she was attracted by ZANU PF’s progressive development policies. Said Moyo:
<blockquote>
Yes, I received a letter from Honourable Sibanda’s wife Memory requesting to join the ruling party, ZANU PF.
We are going to invite her to our Provincial Co-ordinating Committee meeting where she will renounce her CCC membership card and regalia.
She is welcome to join her party of choice.
</blockquote>
CCC has previously claimed that it receives ZANU PF defectors on a regular basis but they do not want to be paraded for fear of reprisals.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/ccc-mps-wife-joins-zanu-pf/">The Herald</a></h4>

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