CIO boss was sacked for refusing to kill Chamisa

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UK-based Investigative unit claims CIO sought to kill Chamisa & have it blamed on Covid-19

UNITED Kingdom investigative unit Dug Up has made sensational claims that Zimbabwe’s much-feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) considered eliminating opposition leader Nelson Chamisa in 2020, then have it blamed on Covid-19.

Chamisa, who was the front-runner to win Zimbabwe’s 2023 presidential elections, had been identified by CIO operatives as the main challenge to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s second term in office.

Dug Up’s article which seeks to explain how former CIO director general (DG) Isaac Moyo lost his job reveals intricate details about the goings on at the state security agency, including a plot to have him fired as way back as 2020, just over two years after his appointment by Mnangagwa.

Moyo, reads the investigative piece, was viewed more as a diplomat rather than an operative. His juniors are said to have openly told Mnangagwa that having him as head of the CIO would cost him his presidency and advised that he be relieved of all duties.

For refusing to kill Chamisa and other ‘problematic’ elements within Zimbabwe’s politics, Moyo was described as being ‘too nice to lead the CIO.’

“As early as 2020, Mnangagwa received reports that claimed Moyo was a nice but ineffective DG. One such report, dated February 15, 2021, claimed Moyo had turned down two projects/operations that suggested using the Covid-19 pandemic as a smokescreen to kill opposition candidates including Nelson Chamisa.

“Dug Up understands the proposal came from the operative division of the CIO and suggested that the elimination of opposition actors could be hidden behind the pandemic.

“The DG refused to authorise the operations. His juniors wrote a report saying he was too nice to lead the CIO.

“Moyo found out and in a heated internal JOC meeting blasted his juniors. Provincial directors who sat in that meeting told Dug Up it was explosive and Isaac’s deputies flat out told him “You are not an Operative.”

Then leading the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Chamisa survived numerous attempts on his life towards the 2023 elections.

Moyo, who was eventually replaced by Fulton Mangwanya earlier this year, is reported to have unsuccessfully sought an exit in 2022 as confrontations and questions around his modus operandi from his juniors continued.

Amongst many reforms Moyo brought to the CIO, operatives reportedly did not take kindly to him demanding that they surrender their identity cards before knocking off to reduce cases of abuse.

Moyo, according to the article, also demanded reports for any case of excess force and barred the carrying of weapons.

–NewZW