Award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’no says former CCC leader Nelson Chamisa should engage his MPs, explain his plans and also listen to their concerns following his departure from the party on Thursday.
This comes amid mounting pressure, especially on social media platforms, for CCC MPs to resign from Parliament to prove their loyalty to Chamisa.
Chin’ono claims that several CCC MPs told him that they were not disloyal to “the cause” that Chamisa is championing but need to be consulted on the way forward.
He said the concerned MPs claimed they incurred huge financial debts after funding their own 2023 election campaigns. Said Chin’ono:
They also argue that the disengagement move was done without consultation, so they were not prepared for it.Many of them say that the very root cause of not consulting others in the party is what led to this crisis.
They also felt that I and others were being unfair to them when we castigated them for not leaving parliament after Nelson Chamisa’s announcement without paying attention to their financial obligations as these obligations may ruin their lives.
They argue that they don’t even know what is coming after departing from parliament.
Chin’ono said Chamisa has to engage the MPs to hear their concerns considering that they have publicly backed him since his resignation. He said:
I think Nelson Chamisa must engage his MPs and make his case based on collective engagement, they are his MPs and they have publicly declared their loyalty to his leadership.
I think they can dump the toxic vehicle called CCC, and instead of walking away from parliament, they should force the regime to push them out, which has more political capital to them and whatever they become in the aftermath.
I also think that since Nelson Chamisa is fighting for democracy, he should encourage his supporters to be loyal to the cause and not just an individual, that way he will have more power to move the political needle where it matters.
We are fighting against ZANUPF’s big-man politics, the world shouldn’t see us replicating it in spaces where we have control.
He must also make an important introspective diagnosis to evaluate his own culpability in all this.
He can form a dozen political parties, but if he doesn’t self-correct, they will all similarly fall.
He can do this privately and the results can be seen in his new actions without posting a sorry post about his mistakes.
Chin’ono conceded that ZANU PF engineered the artificial crisis in CCC which forced Chamisa to quit, but he has to learn from the mistakes he made. He wrote:
Yes, his adversaries Emmerson Mnangagwa and ZANU PF have everything to do with this crisis too, they are the main ingredient, but his political adversary exploited his strategic weaknesses… his Achilles Heel.
It would be extremely naive of him and his supporters to think that they are innocent victims without an iota of contribution to this mess.
A man or woman who doesn’t learn anything in 2 years of making mistakes would have lost 2 years of their lifetime, what is important is what we learn from our mistakes.
I also think that public shaming of these MPs online instead of engaging them in logical arguments creates a toxic environment.
Politics is more effective when you are more strategic than emotional, what I have seen on social media is more emotion and less strategy that looks into what every decision means in the positive and negative.
There are complex dynamics within CCC and its MPs stemming from financial pressures and a perceived lack of consultation.
Engaging MPs collectively, encouraging loyalty to the cause, and strategic planning are paramount for Nelson Chamisa and his group’s future success in whichever form or name they take.
Reflecting on internal weaknesses is a sign of strength, not weakness, emphasising the need for strategic thinking over emotional reactions in political discourse makes you emerge stronger, not weaker.
Mt Pleasant MP Fadzayi Mahere and Masvingo Urban MP Martin Mureri announced they have resigned from CCC in solidarity with Chamisa.
Senior CCC leaders who allegedly back the party’s defacto secretary general Sengezo Tshabangu have hitherto opted to stay in the shadows.
Source Pindula News
