He named former Zanu PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, top government and security officials, and MDC Alliance vice-chairman Job Sikhala, among others, as those involved in the alleged plot to oust Mnangagwa.

“Government would, therefore, like, through the agents of the working committee on National Security Council as convened in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, to unequivocally debunk and dismiss these rumours with the contempt they deserve,” Kazembe said.

“The purveyors of this false coup narrative claim that former members of Zanu PF, who fell by the wayside and largely went into self-imposed exile at the advent of the new dispensation in 2017, are coming together in a united front with some named senior government leaders or members of the security forces of Zimbabwe and elements of the opposition formation,” Kazembe said.

Kazembe said: “They (alleged purveyors) further claim that once the contrived coup is executed, they intend to establish a national transitional authority which will then govern Zimbabwe minus Zanu PF for an unspecified period.”

“Indeed, the rumours of an imminent military coup alongside the incidents of fake abductions, torture and enforced disappearance and claims of a government of national unity or a national transitional authority all form an integral part of this kind of warfare,” Kazembe said.