By Staff Reporter
Former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa on Thursday announced plans to launch a new political movement in a fresh bid to dislodge Zanu PF from power.
Chamisa resigned from the CCC in January 2024 citing that his party had been hijacked by Zanu PF leader and President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
This followed a period of turmoil after self-appointed CCC Secretary-General Sengezo Tshabangu went on a rampage, recalling councillors and members of Parliament, particularly those backing Chamisa and critical of Zanu PF.
Tshabangu further barred recalled CCC members from participating in by-elections under the CCC banner, leaving many MPs and councillors out in the cold.
Having kept a low profile for some time, Chamisa has now begun signalling a return to full-time politics, dispelling the notion that he was done with the political arena.
“I want you to know; I am not idle. I am consulting. I am building. I am assembling a new strategy and a citizens’ team that will carry and pivot this nation unto greatness and stardom,” Chamisa wrote on his X account, Thursday.
He described his departure from the CCC as disembarking from a ship that was leaking and could have jeopardised the democratic project he is striving to realise in Zimbabwe.
“I left CCC but not the mission. All because CCC was never the destination. It was just the vehicle meant to take us to the New Zimbabwe. When that vehicle was compromised, it became necessary to step out and prepare a better, cleaner, fit-for-purpose vehicle,” he explained.
Chamisa further acknowledged the mistakes he made during his time at the helm of the CCC.
“Our approach in 2023 was not the same as 2018, because in the fight against oppression, no strategy is cast in stone. This is a battle to save lives and to save a nation. We sometimes miss. We sometimes omit. We commit. We adjust. We correct. We keep moving forward until we win. And win we must.
None of this would have been possible without you.”