By Pieter Ziegler
In the space of half a year, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC)leader Nelson Chamisa has plummeted from his high pedestal to the mire of something less glorious.
From a dizzying ledge where he envisioned a haloed future he, today, finds himself in the mire of pondering and working his way through a tangled thicket of internal frictions.
Whereas if the situation were a product of ZANU PF machinations it could have elicited sympathy, the kind he faces is a self-made ricochet on its way from his not-so-strategic throws.
A Case of No Structures
The case of having no structures, once, was novel and resultantly, attractive in an environment occupied by ZANU PF.
It appeared like Chamisa had walked upon a crafty way to ‘keep them guessing’.
Indeed, everyone kept guessing until it was too late for everyone including the party itself!
CCC has ultimately failed to handle itself in the proper manner, even with the absolute belief that its absent structures are actually structures in themselves.
Too many operational loopholes have exposed that the overly done trick is actually a dubious megalomaniac move by Chamisa.
The guy is simply running the steam train alone and into the boondocks!
The Last Election
Sacred rule number one in our thin veneer of a democracy is that a party leader is never contested.
The party constitution may dictate whatever flowery opportunity for anyone and everyone but as the day gets near and everyone gets moist for the big day it becomes known that the leader stays.
The leader stays until he dies, dies or dies.
Chamisa is entering his second election as a Presidential candidate after the dramatic exploits of 2018.
Then, he was rigged and had proof until the Judges came.
This time around, the writing hand on the wall has already appeared and is still penning its message.
Reading from the shadows, it doesn’t look good and his days appear numbered.
It’s very hard to fathom a Chamisa victory in 2023 as it will be even harder to think about 2028.
Already armed with enough verses, suits and religious zealotry, it would be better that post-2023 elections Chamisa should just hand over the reins.
Before we begin the arduous long wait for him to die, die or die.
The Party, What Party?
As it stands the CCC is a wide assembly of many emotions, hopes and aspirations.
It’s a ramshackle community assemblage of varied feelings, positive and negative.
However, in the pincered focus of pain, anger, and hope the movement lacks a concrete foundation upon which everything should come down to settle.
Whereas the ruling ZANU PF fashions itself as a revolutionary party constantly feeding from the legacy of liberation struggle aspirations and Pan-African ideals of black empowerment, it’s not so clear for the opposition.
Shorn of the many adjectives dressing its frenetic movements and loud sounds, the party remains a collection of those who hate ZANU PF.
Alone and of itself it can easily break down into many crumbs of varied ideas, aspirations and objectives.
Even in its present state, after the metamorphosis from the MDC into CCC, it has remained a convenient vehicle to merely escape point A and get to point B.
That cannot be a foundation strong enough to sustain national politics.
At some point, the party needs to have meaning, and ideas and be structured upon something concrete and definite than the vile anger against ZANU PF.