An elderly war veteran who addresses his supporters on social media wearing a military uniform has become a symbol of resistance to Zimbabwe's authoritarian regime as the political opposition lies in tatters.
Blessed Geza, also known as "Bombshell", is attracting a healthy following via straight-talking online pronouncements that are introduced with a Maoist anthem from the height of the armed struggle in the 1970s.
Even though turnout was low at demonstrations he called for March 31 to demand that President Emmerson Mnangagwa step down, the police were alarmed enough to deploy in force and arrest more than 100 people for taking part.
Many businesses and offices shut for the day, which some said amounted to a stay-away protest.
Days before, Mnangagwa removed the military chief and appointed him sports minister in what one analyst termed "coup-proofing".
Geza -- who is hiding -- says that since speaking out, his home has been fire-bombed and his wife harassed.
But this has not stopped the former guerrilla, MP and businessman, who is believed to be in his eighties, from confronting Mnangagwa and his "corrupt cabal".
In an address this week, he reiterated determination to "save Zimbabwe" and alleged the 82-year-old president was no longer mentally fit to govern.
While he appears to represent a faction of the ruling Zanu-PF party blamed for many of the country's woes, Geza's outspokenness appeals to the many who yearn for change after decades of economic ruin.
"He has struck a chord with the majority and has support from across the political divide," Zimbabwe Democracy Institute director Pedzisai Ruhanya told AFP.
This includes the "political orphans in the opposition, who are leaderless because it has been decimated", he said.
Geza's emergence also shows that "tensions within Zanu-PF are very high and it is no longer possible to pretend that all is well", Ruhanya said.
Succession battle
Geza is "saying things that are on the minds of most Zimbabweans, which they dare not say publicly, hence his popularity", Same Mlambo, a produce vendor in the city of Bulawayo, told AFP.
The main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has been weakened by years of intimidation and missteps.
Its leader, Nelson Chamisa, quit more than a year ago. A caretaker replacement, Jameson Timba, has been largely absent since being released from more than five months in jail in November on charges of holding an illegal gathering.
"Geza has adopted the stance and polemics of the opposition," said Swithern Chirowodza, Bulawayo spokesperson for the Chamisa-aligned CCC. "But he remains a part of the Zanu-PF which has ruined the nation."
The party has essentially run the country of 16 million people since the end of white-minority rule in 1980.
The war veteran has begun speaking out as a bloc within the Zanu-PF manoeuvres to keep Mnangagwa in power beyond the end of his term until at least 2030, which would be two years beyond his mandate.
He is "a manifestation of a struggle between elites, which has nothing to do with the majority", said Blessing-Miles Tendi, associate professor at Oxford University.
Geza reportedly backs Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, said to be a rival to Mnangagwa, to take over in 2028.
Mnangagwa, a former defence minister, had the army on his side when he staged the coup in 2017 that ended Robert Mugabe's decades-long rule.
"Those who are brought into power via coups usually exit in a similar fashion, for they do not have the backing of the masses but that of the security forces," said Marvellous Khumalo, spokesperson of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.
"If Mnangagwa and his cabal continue with the 2030 mantra, we are likely going to have the coup sooner than later," Khumalo said.
AFP