By Staff Reporter
Police in Zimbabwe say they are looking for the 13th suspect connected to the popular but mysterious Facebook page Baba Jukwa. The page, perceived as anti-government, has a massive 409 000 followers and continues to grow.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the development and named the suspect as South African-based Chawarika Matongorere. Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi and his brother Phillip are also accused of links with the faceless blogger.
The police have also listed exiled journalists Wilf and Trish Mbanga, publishers of The Zimbabwean newspaper, who are based in the UK, as well as the weekly newspaper’s South Africa correspondent, Mxolisi Ncube.
Mbanga has already rubbished the allegations as ‘misguided’ and said the police were on a phishing expedition.
“The police seem to be on a phishing expedition. They only have to read a copy of the Sunday Mail of May 11th where my hacked email exchange with Baba Jukwa was published. This clearly shows that I had nothing to do with the said Facebook page.
“The Sunday Mail itself claimed that I had been duped into paying my own reporters to publish some of Baba Jukwa’s exposes that were already on Facebook and the internet. Why would I offer to pay for something if I was an administrator?” Mbanga said in his statement.
Other suspects are UK-based computer programmer Samson Chifamba; UK-based systems and software engineer Walter Shoko; George Chirakasha, a Zimbabwean resident in the UK, as well as Anomie Drew, Piniel Nhokodi, Romeo Musemburi and Sarudzai Florence.
“The police would like to confirm that Chawarika Matongorere, a Zimbabwean based in Johannesburg, South Africa, is required by police for questioning in connection with the sourcing of funds for the Baba Jukwa project and the posting of subversive material,” said Snr Asst Comm Charamba.
Prosecutors allege that in April 2013, the two Kudzayi siblings and their accomplices still at large hatched a plan to overthrow the Mugabe regime through unconstitutional means and created a Gmail account, [email protected], using a mobile phone line registered in Phillip’s name.
They are alleged to have posted articles on Baba Jukwa’s Facebook page which encouraged rebellion against the Government if the July 31 harmonised elections “were stolen”.
Ncube and Chimoio were the first to be accused by the state media of being Baba Jukwa. The two however denied any involvement and instead hired Harare lawyer Obert Gutu to file lawsuits against the publications who made the claims.
After a serialization by the state media of what was meant to be hacked Baba Jukwa emails it was then that Edmund Kudzayi’s attempt to help the army track down the mystery blogger backfired and he was instead arrested. At least that is what he has claimed in his defence outline.
Ironically the Sunday Mail newspaper edited by Kudzayi was one of those who published the leaked Baba Jukwa emails, claiming then that they had evidence linking journalists Mxolisi Ncube and Mkhululi Chimoio to the Baba Jukwa Facebook page.
