"Political Parties Cannot Work Without Structures," "It Could Be End Of The Road For Chamisa" - Moyo, Mandaza

Former Information Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has reiterated that political parties without structures and a constitution cannot survive. He made these comments in response to Nelson Chamisa’s departure from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), where he served as the leader. Chamisa had adopted a strategy known as “strategic ambiguity” to prevent infiltration by the ruling ZANU PF party, but Moyo argues that this lack of organisation and clear guidelines led to problems within the opposition party. Moyo emphasizes that a political party cannot function effectively without proper structures and a constitution. He said:

Anyone anywhere who at any time comes up with a political party with no structures and with no constitution, or who makes himself or herself the structure and constitution of the party is his or her own worst enemy. Of course, people can come up with as many ghosts or strawman arguments as they want to explain away their own culpability, but while a structureless and constitutionless formation may work for a cultic church, it can never work for a political party. Never ever. As a matter of fact, there’s nothing as easily infiltratable as a structureless and constitutionless political party, especially one that claims to be officerless and memberless. A political party like that can never meet the most basic elements of a democratic or progressive formation!

On the other hand, Ibbo Mandaza, an academic, suggests that Chamisa’s departure from the CCC could mark the end of his political career. Mandaza said: