Staff Reporter

The beleaguered CCC leader, Nelson Chamisa has vehemently repudiated calls by his belligerent supporters to go into the streets and cause mayhem in protests against the 23 August elections results.

Chamisa was dismally defeated by incumbent President, Emmerson Mnangagwa by 44% to 52.6% in the just concluded 23 August 2023 Harmonised General Elections.

According to an insider close to the CCC leader, Chamisa has been inundated with calls from his supporters who are calling on him to lead the violent protests from the front.

“One thing I will respect Chamisa for, is his stance on violent protests. Some of his supporters have actually been agitating for war. They have been calling him requesting for green light to go into the streets with guns. He has been telling them that they cannot take that route.

“He has actually become very unpopular with the youthful supporters because of that stance. Some are reportedly calling advising him to give the reins to Tendai Biti whom they view as braver,” said the source.

Another insider said Chamisa had no enthusiasm to engage in protests since he was quite aware that he had no genuine reason to do that.

“Chamisa knows, in fact we all know very well that we didn’t win this election. Of course there were some factors that militated against our performance but the truth that we all secretly know is that we lost it. With that reality in our hands, nobody can be cruel to risk citizens’ lives on unjustified cause. We know for certain that after the bloody chaos, the international community will institute inquiries and we will be asked to prove our rigging allegations. We don’t have proof for those claims. We don’t have all the V11s and that’s why we have also abandoned the court route.”

The insider went on to argue that Chamisa also fears to resuscitate Biti’s popularity. He said he knew very well that if protests were called for, Biti would be at the forefront and credit will go to him.

The insider said the only route the opposition was left with was to push for a transitional authority through SADC. However, he said there was no basis for that arrangement.