HARARE The prospect of Robert Mugabe facing off Nelson Chamisa in 2018 is seemingly pushing panic buttons within the Central Intelligence Organization. There is genuine fear that the President will be pitted against a younger and unpredictable opponent which might complicate the efforts to retain the nonagenarian as President.
Minutes of a briefing held by senior members of the CIO on Friday and chaired by Acting Director Aaron Nhepera expose the anxiety within the ranks. According to the minutes, the continued illness of Morgan Tsvangirai might lead to a leadership change within MDC with Nelson Chamisa emerging as the most likely candidate.
A change in MDC leadership would entail a complete change in tactics from mere containment to offensive counter-intelligence. Part of the minutes read
“Over the past 17 years the organization has horned effective strategies to handle MDC and MT. A change in leadership will require us to invest our resources in building measures to contain a new and uncertain threat .”
A resolution was made to approach President Mugabe with a proposal to move the election forward to January or February 2018 before MDC has had a chance to fully resolve its internal leadership crisis. As part of the proposal ZANU PF would move its Special Congress to end of November or early December.
