"There are a lot of professional [CIO] people who feel opposed to what's going on," the senior officer says. "But that doesn't mean you don't conform, or don't obey your instructions, see what I mean? It's disgruntlement, not rebellion.
"The current system has ceased to be functional. When you come to that stage, you obviously want change. Service delivery is dismal. Education is worst affected. There are no drugs in public institutions," he says, reeling off the problems like an opposition speechwriter.
CIO headquarters, a drab, nine-story red-brick building on Selous Avenue in central Harare, has many small windows, like eyes gazing at the city. Just walking by evokes a chill.
Members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change obsess about the organization. They avoid mention of meeting places in phone calls, talk in code, use encrypted e-mail and drive circuitous routes with an eye on the rear-view mirror.
Several years ago, MDC supporters said they were certain the party had been infiltrated by CIO spies determined to undermine the opposition by sowing discord among members.
They are right to be concerned, the CIO officer says. "Infiltration is the name of the game."
He guffaws at the idea that the MDC might find that shocking. "It's to be expected. It's very normal." His term for it is "information management."
"With the opposition and some influential members of society, there is a standard procedure. It's keeping an eye on everything they do. You want to know what's happening and where, so that you can win."
Likewise, he says, the opposition should expect plenty of dirty tricks in any power-sharing government.
If such a government comes to pass, that is. Even though Mugabe was forced into a power-sharing deal after African observers rejected the results of the June presidential election, it's an idea that neither the regime nor the opposition is comfortable with, as witnessed in the tortuous negotiations ever since about who gets control of the economic posts and security forces.
Meanwhile, Mugabe holds on. The only solid obstacle he faces is of his own making: the economy, which is in such chaos that there's not a lot of actual governing he can do.
The man from the CIO confirms that the agency set a trap for the former Roman Catholic archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, one of Mugabe's most vociferous critics. A CIO camera was placed in Ncube's bedroom last year, and he was filmed in bed with a married woman. Photos were splashed across the state-owned Herald newspaper, which said the film was made by a private detective hired by the woman's husband. Ncube resigned and has been silent ever since.
