'Chamisa not a 'spent force', claims his spokes

MDC Alliance presidential spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda has defended the political standing of his boss, Nelson Chamisa arguing he was not a "spent force" but instead, the opposition leader remained dear to Zimbabweans.

Addressing journalists in Kwekwe this week, Sibanda rubbished statements that Chamisa had become irrelevant in national politics after some senior party officials, including MPs deserted him in recent months to join rivals MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora or Zanu-PF.

"I traverse this country and the president does. When he walks out and speaks, the president gets a lot of attention as if we were in an election mode. What the public is saying is that the president is not only still dear to them, but it is also because of his approach to people and the way he understands the people," he said adding Chamisa's work diary was always full of events to attend.

"This is the type of the politician who is with the people. Zimbabweans understand President Chamisa as a politician who plays fair, a politician who plays by the rules rather than the Zanu-PF approach of trying to obliterate President Chamisa's political movement and the political base using and abusing the law, abusing court institutions, and arms of the state. Zimbabweans understand well that with this approach, Zanu-PF is shooting itself on the foot," he said.

Meanwhile, Sibanda said his boss viewed statements made last week by Zanu-PF's acting political commissar that the ruling party would continue to hold its strategic bond with the military to maintain its grip on power, as an opinion of an "attention seeker".

Chinamasa is "an attention seeker who just wants to be relevant," said Sibanda.

He said the military had the option to be professional, and not allow its operations to be dictated by Zanu-PF.

Last week, Chinamasa told journalists Zanu-PF enjoyed a close working relationship with the army, and the two would never surrender that bond.

"Chinamasa is an attention seeker and just wants to be slightly relevant. The fact of the matter is that it is not up to Zanu-PF for the Zimbabwean military to be professional, it is not even up to Chinamasa. It is up to the military to decide whether or not it remains professional and that there is no party, state conflation," Sibanda said.