Mnangagwa Undermines Chinamasa, Reinstates Fired Varakashi4ED Activists
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has overturned a decision by ZANU PF’s secretary for legal affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, to dismiss six paid social media activists whom Chinamasa had labelled “rogue elements.”
In a handwritten note on an appeal letter from one of the fired activists, Jonasi Mandiwisa Musara, Mnangagwa declared the dismissals “null and void.”
Musara, a member of the Varakashi4ED group, which promotes the president’s agenda on social media, had petitioned Mnangagwa to reverse the decision to fire them.
Mnangagwa’s intervention, which directly challenges Chinamasa’s authority, could further deepen the factional rifts within ZANU PF, a party already grappling with infighting over succession issues.
Chinamasa, the executive director of the Varakashi4ED Social Media Unit, had claimed that the activists were dismissed for insulting him and other party officials.
The group, paid to attack critics of Mnangagwa and amplify pro-party messages, has become a key player in ZANU PF’s online warfare.
One of the dismissed activists, Tinotenda Gachange, shared Musara’s appeal letter on social media, now having Mnangagwa’s handwritten comments and signature. Wrote Gachange:
Successionists and rogue anti-2030 elements cloaked in deceit are attempting to silence the voices of progress. Their intimidation tactics are clear signs of cowardice, aimed at undermining the persuasive efforts of the 2030ists who support President Mnangagwa’s term extension.
President Mnangagwa stands firm, and so do we, undeterred and unbowed.
Gachange appeared to subtly criticize Chinamasa, although he did not mention him by name. He accused Chinamasa of attempting to intimidate the activists into abandoning their support for a proposed constitutional amendment that would remove term presidential limits.
Other activists set to be reinstated include Tafadzwa Mawire, Felix Muzondo, Pardon Mangwende, and Herbert Mathe.
More: ZimLive
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