CITIZENS’ Coalition for Change (CCC) senior party members in the Midlands capital have begun campaigning, albeit underground, for the Gweru Urban parliamentary seat ahead of the watershed 2023 general election, The NewsHawks can report.
STEPHEN CHADENGA
Prominent Gweru lawyer Brian Dube, who last year defected to the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-Alliance, is the current legislator for the constituency, but CCC members feel
Dube’s chances of retaining the seat are slim, given the MDC’s poor performance in last month’s by-elections.
Names that have already emerged and are tussling for the seat include CCC Gweru district chairperson Taurai Demo, businessman Edward Ganyani, former Gweru mayor and CCC provincial chairperson Josiah Makombe and CCC national vice-chairperson Sesel Zvidzai (pictured).
There are some dark horses who are also working behind the scenes as they feel Gweru Urban constituency is a “walkover” for the party.
Makombe, Ganyani and Demo were non-committal when asked about their plans as they all insisted that the people of Gweru will determine their fate.
Zvidzai laughed off the suggestion, saying as a senior member and vice-chairperson of the party he was committed to ensuring CCC wins the 2023 elections.
“The task at hand is to make sure CCC wins in next year’s harmonised elections,” he told The NewHawks.
“The (CCC) president (Nelson Chamisa) should win resoundingly and we should clinch the
parliamentary seats, including those in rural areas where Zanu PF has dominated in the past. We are tirelessly working for the party’s success and victory in next year’s election and nothing more.”
Pressed further if he was not interested in vying for the Gweru Urban seat, Zvidzai laughed slightly and said CCC was a citizens’ party and leaders “came from the people.”
Addressing CCC Midlands interim structures a fortnight ago in Gweru, Chamisa ruled out primary elections, saying candidates were going to be chosen by the people.
“CCC is a citizens’ party and this time around candidates will come from the people. All stakeholders will have an input in choosing their preferred candidate,” he said.
“We want servant leadership and not people who serve their interests.
So if you have not endeared yourself to the people, forget about representing Mkoba, forget about representing Gweru Urban. It is the people who are going to decide.”
Interestingly, last year Zanu PF Midlands senior officials told The NewsHawks that the divisions rocking the opposition had gifted the seat to Zanu PF.
“This is a done deal, Gweru Urban is now Zanu PF. If you look at the opposition divisions in the constituency and a growing defection to Zanu PF by a number of opposition figures, it’s just telling that, come 2023, this is a walkover,” said Zanu PF’s candidate in the 2018 elections Esau Natare.
The Gweru Urban seat has been held by the opposition since the year 2000.
