Sengezo Tshabangu
Tshabangu, who has been claiming to be CCC’s interim secretary-general since October 2023, announced the interim leadership at a rally in the Tshabalala-Pelandaba constituency.
He was the guest speaker at the event to mobilise support for his candidate Moreblessing Tembo for the by-election to be held on 03 February.
Those appointed to leadership roles include Mbuso Siso (national treasurer), Albert Mhlanga (deputy national chairperson), Sikhululekile Moyo (women assembly chairperson) and Nomvula Mguni (national director for elections).
Mhlanga was reported as saying the interim structure gave Tshabangu the authority to make recalls. He said:
This is the structure that gave Tshabangu the power to make recalls, this is how our president Nelson Chamisa was chosen.
There is no tribalism in this. We are just stationed in Matabeleland, but we are a national structure.
I communicate with those in Mashonaland East, West and other provinces and we are currently inviting people for a congress where a substantive leadership will be elected.
At the moment we, including the president, were not given the mandate to lead by the people.
Tembo, who is Tshabangu’s preferred candidate in the Tshabalala-Pelandaba constituency, where CCC deputy spokesperson Gift Siziba is also a candidate, is an activist in the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC.
Mhlanga defended Tembo’s selection to represent the party saying critics were ignorant of how the CCC was formed. He said:
It’s called the all stakeholders party where all sections of society are involved regardless of where they are coming from.
He also dismissed claims that Tshabangu wanted to be president of the party, adding that their sole leader was Nelson Chamisa. Said Mhlanga:
There is no faction for Tshabangu or Chamisa. Even Tshabangu has said that he does not want to be a president.
Our president is Chamisa and we are preparing for Congress so that if possible he gets officially elected and gets a mandate from the people to lead.
Meanwhile, on Friday 12 January, Tshabangu filed an urgent High Court application seeking to stop the participation of 23 candidates under the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) banner in the upcoming 03 February by-elections.
The 23 CCC candidates successfully filed their nomination papers at the Nomination Court on 18 December 2023.
This was despite the fact that a previous High Court order had barred fellow party members from contesting under the party name on the basis that they had ceased to be party members ahead of the 09 December 2023 by-elections.