The United States recent adjustments to its sanctions on Zimbabwe has left Chamisa and other likeminded opposition leaders disappointed.
Chamisa and his colleagues are also furious over President Hakainde Hichilema’s increasingly positive posture towards President Mnangagwa. Furthermore, President Hichilema is now pushing for the removal of all sanctions.
A close confidante of Chamisa who spoke to this publication revealed that they had been informed by their allies within the Hichilema Administration that the Zambian President had become treacherously close to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“Our assets in Lusaka say ED and HH phone each other every week. This is dangerous for us and all opposition parties in the region. Hichilema must wake up,” said the source.
The source added that the US’ adjustments to the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the American Government have further fuelled Chamisa’s disillusionment.
“Chamisa views President Biden as getting soft in Lusaka with President Mnangagwa’s Government. Chamisa has perceived a correlation between the easing of sanctions and President Hichilema’s gestures towards President Mnangagwa, suspecting clandestine consultations between the two leaders to politically sideline him,” said the source.
Despite the apparent setbacks, Chamisa finds reassurance in “the unwavering support promised by allies within the SADC Secretariat”.
“Despite the apparent setbacks, Chamisa is finding solace in the assurances he received from his friends within the SADC Secretariat, who told him that they would remain solidly behind him,” said the source.
Several Zambian political analysts have dismissed Chamisa’s accusations as hogwash. They reminded Chamisa that Hichilema was not guided by failed foreign opposition leaders but by Zambian interests. They stressed that Hichilema was an African statesman not a leader of some fanciful regional opposition grouping.
Meanwhile diplomats in Gaborone have dismissed claims that the Zimbabwean opposition has spies within the SADC Secretariat.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Chamisa directly were fruitless, as he was unreachable on his mobile phones.
