Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has unveiled a political outfit, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
The new party whose main philosophy is anchored on putting citizens at the forefront will use the yellow colour.
This development was brought about by numerous contentions over the MDC Alliance name and derivatives that the party was using previously with their main rival the MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora.
Addressing a presser Monday afternoon in Harare, CCC leader, Nelson Chamisa, admitted the decision had not been easy but had to listen to Zimbabweans who urged them to “leave the dirty past and be the face of a new future.”
“We will champion transformation on behalf of Zimbabwean, our key thrust is to deliver. We don’t want confusion, they came after our name the MDC-T, the headquarters, our MPs, our finances, it’s ok you can share that with (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa. They have taken literally everything,” said the party leader.
“We lost everything except ourselves. The new course has nothing to do with wrangles of the past. We are convinced and our conviction is to bring change. Zimbabweans know who their leaders are, they know their champions, who their voices of change are, those in Zanu know that even after stripping us naked and they still want us naked. We are clear, we are charting a new course.”
Moving away from the open palm hand, the new CCC party symbol will now be a raised index finger that indicates the party is “number one” .
“Thank you Zimbabweans for your patience and every Zimbabwean must be organised for change,” Chamisa noted.
Before making their announcement, Chamisa revealed that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had given them some trouble over their new name.
“We couldn’t come here without that response. They did not expect us to be approaching ZEC as a new organisation. They kept insisting, ‘we know you as the MDC Alliance’ and we told them, ‘we are a new organisation’ and they said, ‘we want to see your constitution,’” he highlighted.
“So for that reason, we are a new entity with new leadership, values, new strategies. We are not the MDC Alliance and are not rebranding, so please dine with those you have given the name MDC,” he said.
Chamisa said CCC was committed to starting afresh as they wanted nothing away with the past.
“We are building from ground zero and we will defeat them like we did in 2018. ZEC wouldn’t take it so they had meetings to discuss then we gave them our new logo, new name, new leadership, new thrust, new strategies in terms of the dictates of the law,” he said.
CCC would have a new everything, added the party leader.
“New headquarters, new mindset and new focus,” Chamisa said.
“We are replacing the citizens in the discourse, putting the citizens back at the centre, they will be responsible for policymaking and citizens are taking over. The new is upon us.”
This new change, Chamisa, indicated is a reminder that it is possible for the sun to shine more in Zimbabwe.
“Toxicity and negativity have destroyed the foundation of our country but we are building the new, that’s why they are shaking from pillar to post,”
Chamisa said the party would contest in the March 26 by-elections and would use that to test their strength.
“Of course, by-elections are a sideshow but as we are waiting for the feast, we will go for it as a starter. The main meal is in 2023 and we are ready,” he said.
“We need to restore the dignity of people. The politician must be the servant of the citizens, who will be the master. The citizen-based philosophy shows the party is restoring dignity, integrity, authority and decency of voters. When you get the citizens right, reconstruction becomes easy.”
