Zimbabwe's gambit: from peaceful protest to the spectre of insurgency

“STAY at home or risk being caught in the crossfire.” The chilling warning came not from a foreign invader, but from Blessed “Bombshell” Runesu Geza — a war veteran-turned-activist -as he addressed the nation in April.

- SIZWE DLAMINI

His message was clear: civilians might become collateral damage if armed confrontation erupts between state forces and “progressive” actors backing his cause. This is no longer a protest it's a declaration of potential civil conflict.

Are we witnessing the birth of an insurgency in Zimbabwe? It began with the March 31 stay-away protest. For a day, Zimbabwe's bustling streets fell silent. Shops closed, offices emptied, and public transport was idle. It felt like a country pausing to exhale after years of political suffocation. That rare moment of mass coordination suggested there was still power in peaceful protest.

But success is a dangerous intoxicant. Galvanised by that initial impact, Geza called for an indefinite national shutdown beginning April 22. He demanded President Emmerson Mnangagwa's resignation. But the second act flopped. The streets buzzed back to life as people resumed work. Zimbabweans, crippled by inflation and survivalist economics, could not afford the luxury of political theatre.

Faced with rejection, Geza didn't retreat. He escalated. Clad in military fatigues, he warned that the country was heading toward armed conflict. Citizens were urged to stay indoors not to make a political statement, but to avoid gunfire. It was a menacing shift. What began as a protest had mutated into a threat.

He spoke of “collateral damage” with the casual tone of a man who'd accepted the inevitability of bloodshed.