Harare – The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) opposition party is embroiled in a deepening financial crisis, with revelations that it owes its employees over US$1.2 million in unpaid salaries accumulated over a two-year period.
This staggering debt, confirmed by representatives from all three factions of the now-fractured party, has left dozens of former employees facing severe financial hardship, Newsday has reported.
The affected employees, who worked for the party between 2022 and 2023, held various positions within the technical department, including security, communications, and election campaign organisation.
They were initially promised payment upon disbursement of political party funds. While they received allowances during their employment, the promised salaries never materialised. The situation worsened with the party’s split into three factions following the departure of Nelson Chamisa in January this year.
The three factions – led by Jameson Timba, Welshman Ncube, and self-proclaimed interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu – are currently locked in a bitter battle for control of the political party funds. According to a Government Gazette notice from last month, the Tshabangu faction is set to receive ZWL 22 116 500 (approximately US$221,165 at the time of writing) from the ZWL 70 million disbursed to parties that participated in the August 2023 harmonised elections. This allocation, however, falls far short of covering the outstanding salary arrears.
Documents seen by this publication reveal that individual employees are owed amounts ranging from US$10,000 to US$50,000, accumulated over the 24-month period. The employees, expressing their frustration, have stated that their attempts to engage with leaders from all three factions have yielded no positive results.
“We have approached the leaders of all the three factions and we have not yet received a favourable response from any,” one disgruntled employee revealed. “While there is a battle over the control of the funds disbursed under the Political Parties (Finance) Act, the leaders do not seem to be concerned about paying our salaries. What we want is a clear position and plan of how we are going to be paid.”
The employees have issued a stark warning, threatening legal action if their demands are not met. “We are not aligned to any faction,” another employee emphasised.
“We worked for the CCC, and it was the result of our sweat that we had Members of Parliament and councillors, and various other offices that we got in the 2023 elections. There are legislators and councillors aligned to various CCC factions, but we still demand our payments from the party. If there is no amicable resolution on this matter, we are approaching the courts.”
Promise Mkwananzi, spokesperson for the Timba-led faction, acknowledged the outstanding debt, stating: “The employees were due to be paid through the political grant which has been diverted to impostors. We implore those with the money to consider and prioritise the workers in this situation.”
Sengezo Tshabangu’s personal assistant, Nqobizitha Mlilo, also confirmed the debt and outlined the steps taken to address the issue.
“Senator Tshabangu is aware of this issue. When he became aware of the issue, he requested to be furnished with the various contracts of the employees. He is now in possession of those contracts. Also, Senator Tshabangu himself has a solid background in labour. Senator Tshabangu appreciates and acknowledges the work which was done by all employees. They held the party together under differently difficult circumstances. These issues have a long history which precedes Senator Tshabangu. They have been outstanding, as well as unresolved for a long time. He has every intention of meeting with the employees and have this issue finally resolved in an amicable way. This has been communicated to the employees,” Mlilo said.
However, the response from the Welshman Ncube-led faction was less forthcoming. Willias Madzimure, the faction’s spokesperson, claimed ignorance of the matter, deferring responsibility to the party’s secretary-general.
“The office of the secretary-general deals with that issue, including those who call themselves secretary-general of the party. They should respond. There is a need to authenticate who were the employees, so the office of the secretary-general is better placed to respond to that. You can call Honourable Hwende for more details,” Madzimure said.
Repeated attempts to contact Honourable Hwende proved unsuccessful.
The situation exposes deep divisions within the CCC and raises serious questions about the party’s financial management and its treatment of its employees.
