Candidates imposition threatening to rip CCC apart

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SUPPORTERS of Mpumelelo Moyo, one of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) candidates for Bulawayo’s Ward 26 Municipal by-election, Saturday staged a demonstration against the alleged imposition of another candidate in the ward.

The placard wielding supporters also accused the party’s secretary general Charlton Hwende of misleading the supporters that Moyo has agreed to withdraw his candidature in support of Norman Hlabano, who was the incumbent councillor before he was recalled by the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC T. In a twitter posted Thursday, Hwende claimed that Moyo had withdrawn his candidature

“After a fruitful and affable meeting with candidates, I would like to thank Mpumelelo Moyo for exercising maturity and for putting the citizens and the party first by withdrawing his candidacy for Ward 26. We now have one candidate, Norman Hlabano,” he twitted.

However, Moyo’s supporters disputed Hwende’s claims.

“Harare hands off our CCC candidate. Hwende you lied,” reads part of the messages on the placards.

The demonstrators who were mainly women were also dancing and singing songs denigrating the CCC leadership.

When reached for comment, CCC spokesperson for Bulawayo province Swithern Chirowodza dismissed the demonstrators as known Mwonzora’s supporters.

“It is a relative truth to say that Mpumelelo Moyo got recommended by stakeholders, who in the pictures appear to be former MDC-Alliance members singled out in our security reports as having long defected to Douglas Mwonzora’s MDC-T. The concept of stakeholders has never been in its conception a tool to empower our political opponents to reject our bona fide members under the guise of being stakeholders,” said Chirowodza.

“The concept or narrative of people from Harare signing for candidates is misplaced since the party’s national chairperson and secretary general are members of the party’s national elections directorate,”

“We are guided by our as yet to be ratified Party Constitution. Section 9.3.1 (e) & (f) of the Party Constitution empowers the national chairperson’s office to run elections. Section 10.17.2 (a) of the same states that the “the membership of the Directorate of National Elections shall comprise of the chairperson of the party as its Chair” he said.

CCC also submitted double candidates in ward nine but one of the candidates Bekithemba Nyathi has since withdrawn to pave way for Donaldson Mabutho who was recalled by the MDC-T in September 2020.