By Elizabeth Sitotombe
UNDOUBTEDLY the in-fighting within the CCC and all its factions has left its supporters in a cesspool of confusion.
And Nelson Chamisa’s abandonment of ship at the eleventh hour has certainly not helped matters.
In the midst of this political tsunami, interim spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi has found himself entangled in a web of illegal land dealings with the help of some CCC Councillors in Harare and Chegutu going against the very principles of transparency and accountability that the opposition has always preached.
Mkwananzi has been illicitly taking over parcels of land earmarked for industrial and commercial use.
He has allocated himself 4 000 square metres, nestled at the intersection of Harare Drive and Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Road, 1 000 square metres along Bulawayo Road, and another 4 000 square metres along the same road.
In Chegutu, he grabbed a 1 700-hectare farm that he plans to subdivide and sell to the highest bidder, while the sizes of some stands in Budiriro remain shrouded in mystery.
Last year, one publication revealed that Mkwananzi was involved in a scheme to seize control of highly profitable people’s markets and municipal properties in Kadoma. The CCC interim spokesperson is said to have been working in cahoots with one Deven Levy on plans to refurbish and subsequently rent out these public facilities for their personal gain.
He stands accused of flexing his political muscle for selfish gain.
The proceeds are designed to be used as a stepping stone to something much bigger, such as securing the hot seat as acting president of the CCC.
Word in the CCC corridors is that Mkwananzi has been, in the process, creating unholy alliances as he manoeuvres to position himself as the interim president of the beleaguered party. Mkwananzi is also believed to have been promising lucrative monetary gifts in exchange for loyalty.
Mkwananzi is a force of despondency within the opposition that continues to blow all over the place, unabated. His involvement in various projects always results in in-fighting amongst his peers.
He has been known to help himself to funds, to further his own ambitions and has previously fallen out with his colleagues after helping himself to party funds meant for various projects.
In 2019, a human rights lobby group, ‘Tajamuka’, led by Promise Mkwananzi, embarked on a much- hyped call for a stayaway. However, sharp divisions were soon to rock the civil society and the opposition over allegations of misappropriation of funds earmarked for the purported national shutdown.
Allegations are that Mkwananzi angered like-minded regime change groups such as the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the MDC Alliance and Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), among others, after they reportedly got wind of information that Mkwananzi had withheld funds meant for the shutdown project.
He was hole up in a hotel in Midrand, South Africa, when he made the call for the said stayaway before he unsuccessfully tried to rope in the MDC Alliance, ZCTU and ARTUZ to support the shutdown which was supposed to run for five days, culminating in a march to State House to force President Emmerson Mnangagwa to step down.
In 2016, Mkwananzi’s relations with the MDC-T soured after it was discovered that he had been pocketing donor funds for every planned demonstration.
One of the donors, US-based Fadziso Jena, accused Mkwananzi of misappropriating the funds she had mobilised for the Tajamuka project.
Mkwananzi was found guilty of embezzling US$8 750 and diverting the outfit’s funds to buy himself a Subaru.
Now that the CCC is in shambles, he is seeking to get hold of it and make it his own, with the ultimate goal of recalling Jacob Mafume, who is perceived to be a thorn in his flesh.
Meanwhile, so much noise is being made about a party with no name. Leaked conversations from Chamisa’s followers have revealed that all is not well in the blue outfit.
“Kana tichitaura nyaya yekuti tirikuda kuvaka blue new one, ngatiitei zvinhu nechokwadi, maitikire arikuita zvinhu haana kuitika nenzira yakanaka. Tanga tiine meeting kuBulawayo, tamobiliser vanhu vakauya zvakanakanaka. Panzvimbo pekuti vanhu vataure pfungwa dzavo, kwangotaura vanhu vanga vacoachwer kuti vataure. Hatingavaki chinhu chi new one kana tichitanga necorruption (If we are talking about building a new blue party, let us do it in an honest manner. We had a meeting in Bulawayo, [after] we had successfully mobilised the people, but instead of them being allowed to speak their minds, the only people chosen to speak were those that had been coached to do so. We cannot build something new if we start a new chapter with dirty hands).” complained one member.
“You are killing democracy among the opposition. The blue is building their own empire. Kana Chibaya achida kuti vanhu vamude haavhariri vanhu panze. We don’t want munhu ane dictactorship. Vanhu ngavabvumidzwe kutaura zvavanenge vachida.”
The people were accusing Ostallos Siziba and Chibaya of holding secret meetings. “Hatingapindi muparty new one nezviito zvekare. Putting new wine into old wineskins will surely burst the skins and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.”
Suffice to say, nothing good will come out of this allegedly blue creature that Chamisa is daydreaming about.