Baba Jukwa hits harder

By Fungi Kwaramba

HARARE – Popular secrets-spilling character Baba Jukwa has reached 200 000 followers on Facebook, escalating a push for the removal of President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF from power in the pending polls. 

In the run-up to the general elections, the faceless Facebook character is carrying out opinion polls to find out voter preferences for the five presidential candidates confirmed at the Nomination Court last Friday.

These are President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube leader of the smaller MDC, opposition Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa and Kisinoti Mukwazhi.

Baba Jukwa, who claims to be a disgruntled Zanu PF official who broke ranks with the party over grotesque corruption and brutality, is presently mobilising the nation to go out in numbers and register to vote notwithstanding the long queues and chaos that have characterised the soon-to-end mobile voter registration exercise.

“Zimbabwe don’t just be happy here, we need action. Help us in building a better country,” said Baba Jukwa on his Facebook page. “Please go out in numbers and register to vote. We are still welcoming plenty of Vapanduki (rebels from Zanu PF) and we expect more by the end of the day.

“Don’t forget to inbox us names of those victimising you countrywide so we setup a good example to the evil people and its security henchmen.”

At the time of going to press last night, Baba Jukwa, who joined social platform Facebook in March, had surpassed 205 224 ardent followers.

With such a staggering following, Baba Jukwa is dominating discussions, not only among affected Zanu PF officials but also among many ordinary folks who cannot go a day without clicking his page for the “latest” inside detail in Zanu PF.

In a daily blizzard of posts, Baba Jukwa has waged an infuriated information war against Zanu PF. His seemingly accurate predictions have rattled the rank-and-file in the former ruling party, insiders told the Daily News.

Baba Jukwa, who remains a mystery, has published phone numbers of politicians, police members, intelligence agents and army officers he says are committing heinous sins against civilians and encourages Zimbabweans to phone them.

The growing list of Baba Jukwa followers and the details he churns out has rattled Zanu PF officials with Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere admitting last week that the mole was destabilising his family life.

There is renewed fright that Baba Jukwa’s accurate prediction of Edward Chindori-Chininga’s death is a harbinger of sinister things to come.

Riding on the crest of popularity, Baba Jukwa says he is going to reveal more dirty secrets to add to the list of top officials who he says are in line for assassination from a camp that is up against reformists.

In May, Baba Jukwa claimed to have foretold the sudden death of a top intelligence commander who was declared a national hero. He claimed the top agent was poisoned by colleagues. He further claims to have foretold a road accident that involved a Zanu PF politburo member.

With the nation now in election gear, Baba Jukwa is unrelenting in churning out what appears to be Zanu PF and government dark secrets. He claims he heads a grouping of persons from the revolutionary party totalling 30 000 called Vapanduki (rebels) prepared to make sure Zanu PF loses the next elections.

Baba Jukwa is also warning of “shenanigans from Zanu PF to rig elections.”

“All opposition parties must know that my evil party is registering every Zimbabwean with an ID especially those in the ??Diaspora, they went through the immigration office and took names of those outside the country and registered them countrywide and their so-called cell chairpersons will vote on behalf of everyone to give my evil party more numbers,” Baba Jukwa wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday.

But Zanu PF says it is not concerned about Baba Jukwa.

“We are not worried at all about Baba Jukwa because he wants to cause confusion and conflict within the party, but he won’t get it,” Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said.

But despite feigning composure, sources in Zanu PF say the party has deployed well-oiled machinery that is working round-the-clock to sniff out Baba Jukwa, fearing his destabilising effect could haunt the party ahead of elections that Mugabe wants held at the end of July. Daily News