By- Splinter MDC-T party leader, Thokozani Khupe, has opened up on joining the Nelson Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition For Change (CCC) party.

Khupe on Saturday announced that she was now a CCC member after she attended a meeting that was addressed by the party’s leader Nelson Chamisa at Macdonald Hall in Bulawayo. Tweeted Khupe:

Today I attended my first meeting as a CCC member addressed by President Chamisa in Bulawayo Macdonald Hall.
Khupe pledged her support to Chamisa’s CCC just before the 26 March by-elections.
However, some CCC members were reportedly reluctant to accept Khupe, warning that she might be a ZANU PF plant due to her previous association with President Emmerson Mnangagwa when she was a member of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD).

CCC interim national chairperson Thabitha Khumalo recently said she will not allow Khupe to join the party unless she apologises for her role in destroying the MDC Alliance.
Khumalo told the media that will never forgive Khupe for initiating her recall from parliament when the latter was interim MDC-T president.

Meanwhile, in an interview, CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere told NewsDay that the party was open to all citizens willing to join regardless of their political background. Mahere was quoted as saying:

We focus on values, actions and policies, not personalities. Chamisa said in his 2022 Agenda address that this is a year of action for change.
The guiding value is that we put the citizens first and they are at the centre of all decision-making.
The only qualification to join is that one is a citizen. The citizens will choose their leaders at the appropriate time.

Khupe through her spokesperson Ntando Ndlovu said she intended to join the CCC as an individual, not as a party leader. Said Ndlovu:
The former Deputy Prime Minister is of the view that to defeat an authoritarian government like ZANU PF, the opposition political parties must unite and form a formidable force against ZANU PF.
As it currently stands, the only capable alternative to Zanu PF is the CCC party and, therefore, she believes that opposition political players must coalesce under CCC and rally behind Chamisa.
Alliances have caused problems before. People must join as opposed to forming alliances.