By Elizabeth Sitotombe

IN politics, opposition parties play a crucial role in holding governments to account and offering an alternative to ruling parties. However, not all opposition movements are created for that purpose. While some genuinely represent the people’s grievances, others operate as career opposition parties, more focused on political survival, financial gain and maintaining relevance through perpetual dissent than striving for genuine change. And the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC),  under the stewardship of ‘pastor’ Nelson Chamisa (or is it?), clearly falls into the latter category —  treating politics as a profession rather than a mission.

The CCC (or whatever remains of it) positioned itself as the moral alternative promising accountability and reform. Yet, a recent scandal involving CCC MP Bridget Nyandoro and others has exposed deep fractures within that faction-ridden party, most notably, revealing a party plagued by the same corruption it has long claimed to be fighting. It has been a week of damning revelations, shocking but not surprising, as opposition members washed their dirty laundry in public.

The controversy reached boiling point when journalist Hopewell Chin’ono allegedly exposed several CCC MPs, including Southerton legislator Bridget Nyandoro, for clandestinely acquiring land from in Mabelreign greenways. Nyandoro admitted to receiving land but denied any sinister intent, stating: “This process started at 8.00am, not 8.00pm. I have not stolen anything.” She then hit back with accusations of her own, targeting those she believed had fed Chin’ono the false story.

In a scathing Facebook post, Nyandoro accused CCC elites of nepotism, land grabs, and using their positions for personal enrichment. She named colleagues such as Joana Mamombe and Denford Ngadziore, questioning how they allocated themselves land on wetlands, among other questionable practices. Most damningly, she alleged that the CCC’s 2023 internal elections were riddled with bribes, with MPs told to pay to “appease midzimu yemukuru” (Chamisa). And she wasn’t done yet, as she went on to claim that Mamombe and her associates had faked their abductions while they were, in fact, staying at their boyfriends’ homes.

In 2020, Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova claimed they had been abducted, assaulted and tortured by State agents. The allegations sparked international outrage and condemnation of the Zimbabwe Government. Nyandoro now claims these incidents were staged. She also alleged that MPs had to pay to secure wins under Chamisa’s unpopular mugwazo strategy. “Tsvagai mabasa muchengete mhuri dzenyu” (Find jobs and fend for your families), she wrote. “No one is coming to save you.”

Whistle-blowing, once a tool for exposing injustice, has now become a weapon for settling personal scores. “I can send screenshots. You do me wrong, I expose you,” Nyandoro reportedly said in a leaked WhatsApp group audio. According to her, the opposition has become an excuse, a platform to pounce on donor funding, thrive on media attention, and maintain just enough relevance to stay in the political game, without ever taking the responsibilities that go with it seriously.

For voters who took time to cast their ballots for the CCC, the scandal has come as a crushing blow. The party’s 2023 campaign promised inclusivity and integrity. On social media, Zimbabweans have voiced their outrage, with many now questioning whether any opposition party is really worthy of their vote.

For any opposition hoping to rise from the ashes of this debacle, the lesson is clear: leadership matters. Political parties thrive on structure, discipline and clear ideological direction. A leader’s role is not merely to inspire but to enforce accountability, mediate conflicts, and maintain unity. When leadership fails, chaos follows.

The CCC, under Nelson Chamisa, has faced growing criticism over its lack of formal structures and opaque decision-making. Chamisa’s ascent after Morgan Tsvangirai’s death in 2018 was marked by internecine infighting and accusations of sidelining veteran leaders. His reliance on ‘strategic ambiguity’ left members and supporters without a clear roadmap, creating the vacuum in which self-interest, as reflected in Nyandoro’s allegations, has taken root.

The CCC also attracted stinging criticism for advocating international sanctions that have hurt ordinary Zimbabweans more than the ruling elite. This, despite the example set right next door in South Africa, where even the most confrontational opposition parties understand that aligning with foreign powers against their own country is politically damaging and contradicts the principle of national sovereignty. Principled opposition is not only possible, it is necessary.

In a rare show of unity, South Africa’s opposition parties have rallied behind their government during its recent diplomatic tensions with the United States. In contrast to many African countries where opposition movements have aligned with Western interests to undermine sitting governments, South Africa’s political rivals have chosen to prioritise national sovereignty over partisan politics.

The current tensions stem from South Africa’s foreign policy, particularly its neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its unequivocal  support for Palestine. The US has accused the country of leaning towards Russia and China, even threatening its continued access to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allows duty-free exports to the US market.

Yet, despite longstanding domestic differences, opposition parties like the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have largely supported the ANC’s position. The DA, long seen as pro-Western, stressed that while it may oppose the ANC on local governance, foreign policy should not be dictated by outside forces. 

Meanwhile, Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has condemned what it calls US ‘bullying’ and urged closer ties with the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indonesia. Smaller parties have echoed similar views, reinforcing the idea that South Africa must pursue an independent foreign policy.

This kind of unity contrasts sharply with opposition politics in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa, where rivals often cosy up to Western governments in the forlorn hope of securing regime change through external pressure.

For opposition parties to be effective, they must do more than criticise. They need clear, tangiblle policies and a vision that goes beyond opposing the ruling party. Voters are tired of empty slogans— they want ideas, competence and accountability.

The CCC’s collapse, with all its internal drama and scandal, is a textbook case of how unchecked ambition and the lure of financial gain can destroy a political movement from within. It wasn’t just leadership that failed; it was purpose. The party lost sight of why it was formed in the first place.