OPPOSITION Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) President Nelson Chamisa ignited varied criticism after he was cornered by a Twitter user on the issue of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by western nations.
In a typical style, Chamisa responded the user, @Jawachawa who had implored on him to ‘come out clean on sanctions’, posting:
“Sanctions must go yesterday”.
Sanctions must go yesterday!
— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) July 20, 2022
This torched a storm, with some accusing the CCC leader of double-standards and lack of ideology. Others suggested that Chamisa’s position on the issue is the main reason why his relations with party VP Tendai Biti and others have been sour.
The Twar emerged after Chamisa had promised Zimbabweans that the landlocked southern African nation will be the land of enterprise and opportunities where ‘one can dream anything and the dream will come true’.
Chamisa once called for the United States Special Forces to invade Zimbabwe in a bid to topple the ZANU-PF entrenched political establishment. At the time he called for this drastic and deadly measure he was still the youth leader in the MDC when it was still led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai.
It was between July 2004 and 2007 that Chamisa was enthusiastically willing to be amenable to the whims of the United States as he pleaded with the superpower to unleash its Special Forces on Zimbabwe so that the Zanu-PF led government would relinquish power. Apart from that, he also called for sanctions to be imposed on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to increase the party’s chances of attaining power. These pleas were presented to the then US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell. The ambassador was prepared to facilitate the MDC’s rise to power in such fashion.
Nelson Chamisa’s spirited attempts to secure the collaboration of the United States also saw him calling for the prosecution of key government officials by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC is responsible for prosecuting on war crimes, genocide, and other serious crimes against humanity. However, it is well known that the ICC is a hypocritical body that only targets African leaders and does not touch American and European leaders who commit these same crimes on a grand scale.
These details came to light courtesy of leaked WikiLeaks cables sent from Harare (via the US Embassy) to Washington’s state department.
Chamisa is reported to have called for the support of Eastern European countries in calling for more sanctions on the country. Chamisa had also said to Dell that the “Mugabe Must Go” message that the MDC clamoured for was not working at all.
The tactics of the MDC in Zimbabwe as the major opposition party comprised of calling for sanctions which were intended to weaken Zimbabwe so that the ZANU-PF led government would leave power. Its first leader Morgan Tsvangirai repeatedly stressed his support for targeted sanctions – sanctions that have brought Zimbabwe to the ground, coupled of course with the gross mismanagement of the economy by Zanu-PF.
