Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa has urged his followers to respond to Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, Ken Roth.
This follows a response by Roth on Facebook that the local representative of the organisation, Dewa Mavhinga, did not bully Strive Masiyiwa’s wife.
The comment follows a series of events in the past several days which saw both Strive Masiyiwa and his wife, Tsitsi Masiyiwa delete their Twitter accounts, after what Strive Masiyiwa said was bullying on the platform. Masiyiwa pointed out that one of the people that bullied his wife works “for an international organization that is highly respected for its work on human rights.” and that “It’s founder, now 95 is a close family friend.” The individual referred to has been speculated to be Dewa Mavhinga, the Southern Africa Director of Human Rights Watch.
Mavhinga had responded to a tweet by Tsitsi Masiyiwa before she closed her account.
However, Masiyiwa said Roth has admitted he is responsible for sanctions against Zimbabwe and urged his followers to respond to the Human Rights Watch boss on social media using the hashtag #MrRothPleaseStopSanctions. Part of Masiyawa’s response reads:
No sir! Enough! Zvakwana, aisi nyika yako! “Enough, it is not your country”. Allow us Zimbabweans to choose what tools we apply to bring about peaceful democratic change. Your methods have failed us. Since you have admitted to being the one behind these sanctions, please remove them, and find other means that do not cause so much suffering for ordinary people. I hope my followers will now answer you going forward: Here is the hashtag: #MrRothPleaseStopSanctions. Children are dying, and so is our country. Please Sir! I will attach it to every post I make.
We publish Masiyiwa’s full response below:
Ken Roth Strive Masiyiwa, I never called you a “defender of repression” despite your inaccurately placing those words in quotes. My full Tweet said the following: “Defenders of Zimbabwe Pres Mnangagwa don’t want to hear criticism of his government’s persistent repression so they pretend all critics are foreign sponsored. A cheap shot. Why not address the reality?” People can read the full Tweet for themselves here: https://twitter.com/…/status/1080462551123660800Meanwhile, your reference to Moyo is a diversion. I do not defend Moyo. I defend my colleague from the false allegations you made against him when he challenged your wife’s tweet suggesting that critics of Mnangagwa must be foreign sponsored, as I explained in my prior post.
My reply,
Young Africans sit and listen!
