By Mohammed Hadebbe
– A wave of fabricated social media reports targeting Chief Fortune Zephaniah Charumbira, President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and Deputy President of the Chiefs Council in Zimbabwe, has sparked outrage and concern.
These malicious reports, disseminated across platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Yu-Tube, aim to tarnish Chief Charumbira’s reputation and, by extension, undermine the Zimbabwean government and President Mnangagwa.
This article dissects the false claims, presents factual counter-arguments, and provides a comprehensive analysis of the situation.
The Anatomy of a Smear Campaign
- Attacking Charumbira and ED in same media Reports: The reports are a strategy to attack President Mnangagwa by implicating Chief Charumbira, aiming for regime change.
- Baseless Reports: The social media reports are fake, lacking journalistic principles, crafted using emotions, and lacking credibility and facts.
- False Allegations: The falsehoods were crafted with the intention of wanting to see Charumbira losing Chiefs Elections and PAP Elections respectively during the last PAP elections in 2024.
- Chieftainship and Land: The false claims that Chief Charumbira lost his chieftainship and land lacks credibility. Hon Senator Chief FZ Charumbira remains, Chief and Deputy President of the Chiefs Council.
- Legitimacy as PAP President:The false claims in the social media allege that Charumbira was illegally elected as the President of the Pan-African Parliament.
Sen. Chief Charumbira’s 2024 re-election as PAP President was conducted according to AU protocol, with a three-quarters majority vote. Any electoral malpractice would have led to AU intervention.
The extension of his term to 2026 by the AU further validates his position. Chief Charumbira has also served in the Pan-African Parliament since its inception in 2004 and was elected as its President in June 2022.
