Guns are out against journalist and activist Hopewell Chin’ono following a social media tirade between him and the Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) foot-soldiers.
Chin’ono posted on his twitter handle saying the opposition was not raising its voice on the Gold Mafia documentary hence it is “dead as a dodo”, a post that has triggered a vicious internal strife ahead of the watershed 2023 elections.
CCC foot-soldiers such as Makomborero Haruzivishe, Takudzwa Ngadziore and party officials such as deputy spokesperson Gift Ostellos Sibanda, came guns blazing accusing Chin’ono of lacking scientific evidence to justify his assertion that the party was dead.
Haruzivishe accused Chin’ono of being a double agent who sold them out in 2019, an allegation Chin’ono denied.
Investigations by the Zim Morning Post have revealed that CCC bigwigs believe that Chin’ono has never been sincere in his support for the opposition politics in Zimbabwe.
“The problem is that he (Chin’ono) has never been sincere and this time around he is discrediting the alternative so that he may introduce another alternative to CCC instead of to Zanu PF,” said a senior official who requested anonymity.
“There is logic to this madness because he cannot say the party is dead when we are making in-roads in the Zanu PF strongholds.
“Chin’ono cannot be allowed to discredit efforts being made by the Citizens and then expects them to be silent.
“They will respond with equal measure. What makes it worse is that our leaders have come out in the open and condemned the blatant looting of not only gold but everything in Zimbabwe.”
Other sources opined that the ongoing feud signals what will happen if CCC and Chamisa do not win in the forthcoming elections.
“This is a clear indication of the reconfiguration that is likely to take place if Chamisa loses the 2023 elections,” the source said.
“You can see that a number of the people who are pro-CCC are siding with Chin’ono and are pushing in his defence.
“CCC has to be careful because this will lead to another split if the elections go the other way.”
Buoyed by the support he is getting from sympathisers, Chin’ono has vowed to stand his ground: “This discussion started after I said that the opposition was not doing enough about corruption. A journalist should not be the face of fighting corruption, it should be the opposition. The corrupt should fear the opposition leaders and parties.”
“Calling me a dog with the blessing of your leadership is what makes CCC unattractive to many who chose to keep quiet and watch you tear your party into pieces! I have never been CCC & I will never be party of a ZANUPF B which insults and calls people Dogs! Good lucky with 2023!,” Chin’ono wrote in response to the foot soldiers’ attacks.
As tempers reached a crescendo Chin’ono accused CCC of deserting Job Sikhala who has been in prison for more than 300 days.
“NONSENSE! Your party has failed to even help Job Sikhala who is rotting in prison. His family starves and have to live through well wishers. His kids fees has not been paid, and you come here on Twitter to grandstand posting useless messages. You deceive the foolish not me!” – ZimMorningPost
