Exiled former cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo has praised former Citizens Coalition for Change legislator Fadzayi Mahere for her professionalism.
This is after Mahere sought clarity from Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information Publicity and Broadcasting Services Nick Mangwana over the alleged leaked memo to extend President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa’s term of office.
“Good day
@nickmangwana,
“Is this Cabinet note authentic? Is it true that you’re planning to amend the Constitution to allow Parliament to retrospectively extend its own term of office by three years?
“We need new leaders,” she said.
In response Moyo wrote:
Below is a refreshingly professional approach taken by @advocatemahere, which is in sharp contrast to that adopted by some journalists cum social media influencers who now routinely peddle hearsay or what they’re told or they see without verifying it to establish its accuracy or authenticity:
“Good day @nickmangwana:
Is this Cabinet note authentic? Is it true that you’re planning to amend the Constitution to allow Parliament to retrospectively extend its own term of office by three years?”
Great question.
Objective and fairminded Zimbabweans await, with keen interest, the authoritive answer to
@advocatemahere
‘s very important, fair, objective and balanced question.
Is the document authentic?
Meanwhile, the usual merchants of disinformation and misinformat have already jumped the gun to conclude that, “This leaked document is a Cabinet memorandum from Zimbabwe’s Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi”.
Really?
So, according to some loquacious journalists cum social media influencers, the document is authentic and is from “Zimbabwe’s Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi”.
But where is their verifiable evidence that the document is authentic or that it is from Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi? Where is the proof?
Or this is yet another disturbing case of some journalists cum social media influencers simply and only using unproven hearsay to tell some audiences out there what they want to hear, regardless of its veracity?
While the lack of supporting evidence is bad enough on its own, what is worse is that some journalists cum social media influencers have taken a leap from their presumption that the document is authentic and their unsubstantiated claim that the document is from Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi to also claim, again without any evidence or link whatsoever, that the document is proof that some MPs were “given land in Mabelreign to block any impeachment attempt and to assist the Zimbabwean dictator in securing a term extension”.
This is staggering, by any standard. Where or what is the logical connection here?
Assuming that the document is authentic, which has not been established; and further assuming the document is from Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, which has also not been established; how would that ipso facto become evidence or proof that, some MPs were “given land in Mabelreign to block any impeachment attempt and to assist the Zimbabwean dictator in securing a term extension”?
What is the evidential connection? Is this a factual point or just a Tsikamutanda proposition?
Honestly, has society sunk this low?
In the good old days, the practice of peddling hearsay or unproven claims – which is disinformation and misinformation – was called rumour mongering. Those doing the peddling of unproven hearsay were called rumour mongers.
Nowadays, rumour mongearing is called journalism cum social media influencing; and rumour mongers are called journalists cum social media influencers.
This transformation is terrible and devastating to society. There are no two ways about it. It’s a scourge that cannot be ignored.
Meanwhile, a cursory reading of the document which the gullible have taken as authentic with no evidence, and which they say is from Minister Ziyambi Ziyambia, also with no evidence, shows that it is poorly and incompetently drafted; has shocking and embarrassing internal contradictions, while some of its crucial parts are incomplete.
There will be more to say, a whole lot, once the authenticity and authorship of the document have been verified and established!
