By A Correspondent | The commentator and activist Hopewell Chin’ono who on Monday threatened to start his own political party if CCC leader Nelson Chamisa’s supporters continue their criticism of him, is targeting the 2028 elections as a presidential candidate, the man’s closest colleagues have said, indicating what could soon happen once the man has cleared himself over money laundering investigations, as so far he has dismally failed to disclose the name of the UK bank he says made him rich with a £50,000 car loan days after arriving in Britain in 1996.

Hopewell Chinono is starting his powerful "Daddy-istic" political career before divulging the British bank he says made him rich with a £50,000 sportscar loan at 25 just after landing in London 1996.

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) November 2, 2023

“He asked for my assistance for his campaign, can you see his phonecalls and messages here,” a friend of his who begged anonymity for fear of cyber-bullying told ZimEye.

Two other colleagues of the activist confirmed the allegations as they pointed ZimEye to his Monday post as the most authoritative public statement.

Chin’ono’s Monday morning threat was that the opposition should be careful of repeating the same mistake ZANU PF made when it caused the late Morgan Tsvangirai to start his own movement in 1999.

Chin’ono has in the past 3 years transformed his career into that of a political heavyweight by pressing a powerful ‘magic button’ against the entire Nelson Chamisa led civil society, through accusing it of inaction on exposing corruption since May 2020. His (Chin’ono’s) social muscle over Chamisa popped out when the Zanu Pf led government slapped him with dismissable, baseless charges of incitement of violence.

The activist, who has failed to disclose the name of the UK bank he claims made him rich through a £50,000 car loan in 1996, and who to date makes Zimbabweans salute him by the hypnotique “Daddy” title, medically proven in various court cases to subdue the will power of sex-grooming victims (minors and elderly), announced in part saying,

“The idea that each time we disagree on a point relating to public affairs, the response is “Form Your Own Party” shows exactly why as a people wanting change we are failing to get it.

“Form Your Own Party is straight out of the ZANUPF playbook, that is what ZANUPF said to Morgan Tsvangirai and he formed it, and we all know what happened.

“It is depressing and backward for the alternative to embrace the same intolerant and authoritarian approach of pushing citizens away from questioning them instead of engaging them and making them see your reasoning on the decisions you make.”

On Sunday, Chin’ono also denounced the country’s main opposition CCC leader, Nelson Chamisa, accusing him of dodging a question on the jailed CCC top official Job Sikhala’s political affiliation.

During a discussion on X, formerly Twitter, a person named George Matipa asked Chamisa if Sikhala is still part of the CCC and if the party is doing everything possible to secure his release. In response, Chamisa said:

Job is a Zimbabwean. He deserves freedom. His case is our cause and collective fight!!

The answer did not convince Chin’ono who argued that Chamisa was being evasive. He said:

The question was not whether Job Sikhala is Zimbabwean or not, it was whether Job Sikhaka is still seen as part of CCC or not. This evasiveness is what makes people think and say that the CCC leadership is not doing enough. The question was a missed opportunity to unite us all by not being evasive but straight up. The response has othered Job Sikhala as just a Zimbabwean and not CCC, it has subcontracted the job to fight to everyone who is Zimbabwean and not CCC which is supposed to be his political home. But I know that there are some who are not yet ready to call a spade a spade.

Sikhala, a former Member of Parliament for Zengeza West, has been incarcerated since 14 June 2022 on allegations of inciting public violence during the funeral wake of slain CCC activist Moreblessing Ali in the Nyatsime area. However, Sikhala vehemently denies these charges and argues that he is a political prisoner, being persecuted for his confrontations with the ruling party, ZANU PF, regarding maladministration and the erosion of the democratic space.

This comes at a time when the outspoken commentator arrived in Washington, D.C., to address a gathering and openly call for the removal of Nelson Chamisa from the leadership of the CCC (Citizens Coalition for Change). The meeting, scheduled for tonight, comes on the heels of Chin’ono’s recent declarations on his platforms, wherein he reiterated controversial statements made to a military officer in January 2023, asserting that the CCC party should split shortly after the 2023 elections due to Chamisa’s perceived incompetence.*

After advising a military officer in Jan 2023 saying that the CCC party has to split soon after the 2023 elections, Hopewell Chin'ono tweets suggesting Nelson Chamisa has divided Zimbabweans. So far Chin'ono's rapturous repetitions of the phrase "opposition has done nothing,"… pic.twitter.com/6SwV1tHbJN

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) October 30, 2023

Chin’ono’s strong criticism of Chamisa and the CCC reached a peak just last Sunday when he tweeted, suggesting that the party’s leadership has divided Zimbabweans. His persistent repetition of the phrase “opposition has done nothing” both before and after his dramatic arrest in July 2020, has raised questions about the motives behind his high-profile detainment by ZANU PF.* *Furthermore, the timing of Chin’ono’s latest actions raises questions about the sincerity of his persecution profile, as he had recently been criticized for operating a disinformation campaign by @OpenSecretsZA. Chin’ono is now seemingly backed by Tafadzwa Matinenga, who is actively organizing meetings in the United States to denounce Chamisa. Notably, Matinenga, the daughter of lawyer Eric Matinenga, who was busy advertising the meetings and co-ordinating CCC members to attend them, later denied being involved, as she said the printout published by ZimEye has been doctored when it was taken from one of her own WhatsApp campaign postings.

The meeting details were on the attached poster. Hopewell Chin’ono’s transformation from a former supporter of the ZANU PF regime to a vocal critic of the CCC has left many wondering about his motivations and the future of Zimbabwean politics.