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Political Editor

A leopard never changes its spots is an old-age familiar adage that applies so aptly to the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), a party unilaterally formed by Mr Nelson Chamisa when he changed colours from red to yellow but at the core remaining a gang of sanctions mongers.

Disturbed by the ruling party’s growing popularity in urban areas that was on display last Saturday when President Mnangagwa addressed thousands of Zanu PF supporters in Epworth, the opposition is yet again in sixes and sevens.

It plans to bus people from the country’s 10 provinces to its rally set to for Harare’s Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, something that observers said betrays a sense of insecurity in the boisterous yet faltering opposition party—that carries the stinking tag of running down the country’s towns and cities, all the while amassing unaccountable wealth.

The party, which has leaders living on borrowed time after Mr Chamisa indicated that his new political outfit only has an interim leadership, is still calling for the retention of illegal economic sanctions which have cost the country more than US$100 billion, according to the United Nations.

The party’s interim vice-chairperson Mr Job Sikhala allegedly posted on his Twitter handle a poster inviting Zimbabweans to the rally.

Inscribed on the poster were phrases like “let’s all call for more sanctions against the regime”, “let’s all take to the streets to demand our democratic right” and “let’s all register to vote CCC”.

Mr Job Sikhala, however, later made a somersault, claiming that his account had been hacked but some techno-savvy bloggers had already frozen in-camera his initial post.

“Thank u @daddyhope (Hopewell Chinóno) for your swift reaction to recover my account after it has been hacked. You are a champion,” Mr Sikhala posted but the cat had already bolted out of the bag.

Observers yesterday said the Government should swiftly pass the Patriotic Bill, a piece of legislation that will impose stiff penalties on persons campaigning against the country through correspondence with foreign governments and harming national interests.

Zanu PF Chief Whip, Cde Pupurai Togarepi, yesterday said as the party with the majority in Parliament they will make sure the Patriotic Bill becomes law in the shortest possible period.

“The United States, which is behind the opposition here has the Logan Act which outlaws consorting with foreign nations against the State, so we will make sure we pass a similar law here that we think will go a long way in some sense of responsibility on the country’s opposition parties that have a fixation with making people suffer so as to get into power,” he said.

The entire CCC leadership has never condemned the illegal sanctions that economists and all progressive forces have blasted for stifling Zimbabwe’s development.