BY SILAS NKALA
Zapu says it will not be joining the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) as it believes the 2018 coalition with the MDC Alliance did not yield anything for the party.
Mthulisi Hanana, the Zapu secretary general, was responding to calls by CCC leader Nelson Chamisa during a rally in Bulawayo last weekend that his party was ready to form a coalition with like-minded parties ahead of the 2023 elections.
“We are not joining Chamisa,” Hanana said.
“We never said we are joining CCC.
“In the party we first get consciousness with grassroots before we take such decisions.
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“We have never done that and Chamisa has not approached us.”
He added: “So we have not made any commitment with CCC and Chamisa cannot invite us at a rally.
“This has caused a rift between the leadership and grassroots.
“Remember in 2018 we had an alliance with Chamisa, but Zapu got nothing out of it.
“In as much as we accept that Zapu cannot be as big as CCC at the moment, we want to occupy our democratic space and we are still gaining support.
“We stand for an alternative voice in the country.”
Zapu spokesperson Msongelwa Ndlovu said Chamisa’s overtures showed that the party’s influence was growing.
“Our feeling is that such a call is a confirmation that the work being undertaken by Zapu after the elective congress which ushered in the leadership of (Sibangilizwe) Nkomo is bearing fruit as our membership is growing and our visibility is palpable,” he said.
“Such invitation is only given to an organisation with something to offer.
“We must reiterate, however, that any forms of co-operation and unity of Zimbabweans against the government of (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa is welcome and must be encouraged by all well-meaning countrymen.”