The boat that never was, the truth about Chatunga Mugabe’s ‘Sekuru Bob’ yacht

HARARE – Zimbabweans may have been led on a wild goose chase by social media pranksters, amidst revelations that Sekuru Bob, a yacht supposedly purchased by Bellarmine Mugabe, the son of the late former President Robert Mugabe, is a fabrication.

A post on X, whose screenshot was widely circulating on other social media platforms, alleged that the boat had been purchased by the youngest of the late President’s sons as Zimbabweans continued to languish in poverty.

However, fact check website ZimFact, revealed that a reverse search had shown that the post, which whipped up emotions on various social media platforms, was the work of mischief makers.

Sekuru Bob! pic.twitter.com/zB9ECrQHhp

— 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑶𝒇 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 (@alistarchibanda) November 15, 2023

The post which was originally posted on 15 November 2023 has so far reached 51,2K views by 21 August.

“A reverse image search of the viral image shows that it has been altered using a photo editing application. The inscription on the boat was photoshopped onto an image of a yacht that has been featured on multiple websites dating back to 2018.

“One of the searches led ZimFact to a site called PhotoFunia which allows users to modify images,” ZimFact said.

The wealth of Mugabe’s offspring has been subject of much speculation prior to and after his death.

Last year, an investigation by South African unit Amabhungane revealed massive money laundering through which late President Robert Mugabe’s son Bellarmine Chatunga could have gained R10 million, just before his father was ousted in a coup in 2017.

A string of payments made to the young Mugabe through an unnamed individual working with Ewan Macmillan of the Gold Mafia exposè was detailed in the report.