THE beleaguered Zimbabwean government on Friday on the arrest of activists, Hopewell Chin’ono and Jacob Ngarivhume and their subsequent court appearance saying the two were lawfully arrested not for exposing corruption but for using their social media accounts to incite Zimbabweans to violently overthrow the government.
Addressing a press briefing this Saturday morning, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa said the government has noted with dismay a local and international well-coordinated misinformation media campaign where the duo are said to have been arrested for exposing corruption cases in government.
“Even though Hopewell Chin’ono writes about corruption he is not unique in this regard. All the newspapers in Zimbabwe including independent publications have written extensively about corruption in government and private sector, none of the journalist who have written about the subject of corruption have been arrested for publishing the same,” highlighted Minister Mutsvangwa.
The minister noted that the misinformation is only deliberately calculated to mislead and manufacture a false narrative which will make people question the sincerity of President Emmerson Mnangagwa to fight corruption.
“President Mnangagwa ordered an investigation into the Drax affair before Hopewell Chin’ono started tweeting about it. As a result of those investigations several arrests were made.
The most prominent of those arrested was the former Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Obediah Moyo….It is therefore false to state that no action has been taken against the corrupt individuals fingered by Hopewell’s expose,” said the minister.
