CCC leader Nelson Chamisa on Friday, 06 May, said he welcomes former Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe saying the newly-formed opposition party is open to all citizens who want to remove ZANU PF from power.
Addressing a CCC rally at Madlambudzi business centre in Bulilima West, Matabeleland South Province, Chamisa said:
I know that people complain that Khupe caused a lot of problems for us but we say, Khupe come, and everybody else.
The difference between CCC and ZANU PF is that CCC represents the future and ZANU PF the past.
Khupe, a former MDC-T vice president and Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) interlocutor, attended the rally.
Some CCC party members and the Bulawayo provincial executive have openly said they were not willing to work with Khupe.
They accuse her of destroying the MDC Alliance when she recalled the coalition’s MPs and councillors when she was the acting president of the MDC-T.
Khupe has, however, been on the road, campaigning for Chamisa, and holding voter registration awareness campaigns in Bulawayo and rural Matabeleland in spite of the resentment.
Meanwhile, Chamisa urged Zimbabweans to abandon ZANU PF, saying the ruling party has caused the suffering of the masses since 1980. He said:
Zanu PF is a minority. The majority are the citizens. Why would you continue to vote for a party that has made you suffer since 1980?
They stole the votes from Father Zimbabwe Joshua Nkomo in 1980…and all those other years and they want to come back again in 2023 to steal the votes. This time it will not happen.
CCC is a small baby and only 3 months old but fighting a big old man and we managed to beat him in the recent elections.
CCC claims to have won in the 26 March by-elections after taking 19 of the 28 contested parliamentary seats.
However, it can be argued that it was ZANU PF that emerged victorious after gaining two seats it had lost in the 2018 elections and also narrowed the gap in the seats that were won by CCC.