Blessings Chidakwa — THE recall of 15 members of CCC from the National Assembly has nothing to do with Zanu PF, but is an internal fight to save the party from the dictatorship of Mr Nelson Chamisa, Mr Sengezo Tshabangu, the interim secretary-general of the faction-torn party, has said.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Tshabangu said the launch of CCC as a political label by the National Council of the then MDC-A in January 2022 ahead of the 26 March 2022 by-elections was a crucial moment for the opposition.
"As a political party based on constitutionalism, we must walk the talk if we are to institutionalise constitutional democracy in our beautiful motherland, Zimbabwe. Our struggle is not about replacing faces, it is about making democracy work as a living everyday lifestyle," he said. Mr Tshabangu said it is unacceptable that CCC presents itself to the Zimbabwean body politic and the outside world as a doyen of democracy while practicing naked fascism in pursuit of personal ambitions.
"The recalls are redemptive, as they seek to reaffirm and entrench a democratic culture where dystopia had developed and was gathering alarming momentum. We refuse to stand by and watch when the party is turned away from its social democratic and constitutional roots," he said.
Mr Tshabangu said the nomination process for the 2023 harmonised general elections was turned into a circus as CCC officials ran roughshod over the will of the people.
He said in some cases, candidates nominated by citizens were disqualified by dubious vetoes that had no legitimacy.
"In Bulawayo, for example, total strangers from other parts of the country were imported to replace local candidates selected by the local community. In a nutshell, our internal electoral processes became a corrupt and blasphemous insult and a brazen act of disenfranchisement.
"It is against this background of a rigged internal electoral process that I, as a bona fide interim secretary general, after nationwide consultation with the citizenry and our structures as they existed in January 2022, and as they still are, decided to bite the bullet to stand up for justice and truth.
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"Also to recall those MPs who are a product of a fraudulent and corrupt internal electoral process that is inconsistent with and contrary to our constitutional ethos and founding as a political party," Mr Tshabangu said.
It is for these transgressions, he said, that the party had to recall 15 dubiously imposed legislators as provided by Section 129 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Mr Tshabangu warned CCC members against absconding from Parliament business as that would result in recalls.
"And now that our political party is cleansing itself of all mala fides and chicanery that are foreign and injurious to our people and their aspirations, we hereby advise and direct all our deployees as follows:
"All CCC councillors must report for work on time, and prepared to serve and to be of service to all our people without fail, save in circumstances seeking or requiring verifiable medical attention or compassionate leave," he said.
"Any CCC Member of the National Assembly or CCC Senator who does not comply with the foregoing will be recalled without further ado and redeployed from Parliament or their local authority".
