Thousands hail Zimbabwe opposition leader Nelson Chamisa at new party rally

Thousands of people attended an election campaign rally on Sunday at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare convened by the country’s new political outfit, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa, ahead of the forthcoming council and parliamentary by-elections.

In his first address since forming CCC, Chamisa scoffed at alleged attempts by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government and Douglas Mwonzora’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) formation to destroy him and his followers.

“They took everything from me but I don’t care … We are starting afresh and we are starting from zero. This is a brand new party,” he said amid applause from his followers, wearing yellow t-shirts and hats and waving colorful flags.

Chamisa claimed that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission wants to rig the forthcoming by-elections.

He said, “They want to rig the elections. We won’t allow that to happen.”

ZEC on Friday dismissed claims that they rig elections in favor of the ruling Zanu PF. Mnangagwa’s government has also attacked the opposition for claiming that it is attempting to destroy Chamisa and others ahead of the 2023 harmonized elections.

Mnangagwa beat Chamisa in the disputed 2018 presidential election. The Electoral Court declared Mnangagwa the winner but Chamisa strongly believes that he won the poll.

About 130 council and parliamentary seats are up for grabs on March 26.