Malvern Mkudu

ZANU PF has always been an autocratic organisation which crushes dissent and the democratisation effect of social media in that party has not gone down very well with the leadership who are not used to being challenged and held accountable in public. The leadership believe they are beyond reproach and they see social media as a threat to this illusion that they have held on to for years.

As such the party has never fully transformed itself into dealing with internal contradictions and internal democracy issues without resorting to conspiracy theories and brute force. For example the party had no clue on how to deal with Baba Jukwa, a Facebook shadowy character who was leaking party secrets with reckless abandon. Accusations and counter accusations flew but up to now the matter has never been conclusively settled.

Professor Jonathan Moyo who joined social media last year has used his account to ridicule party officials but also more importantly to connect with his own constituency. This has not gone down well with other party officials who believe that, Moyo’s use of social media is driven by an agenda to destabilise the party. Moyo’s use of social media is ironic though considering that in the past he has denounced social media  saying that it was for people who had ‘time to waste’.

For the Baba Jukwa debacle, Professor Moyo along with other ministers such as Saviour Kasukuwere was questioned by police. The former editor of the Sunday Mail, Edmund Kudzai was also arrested facing charges of being the faceless Baba Jukwa character. Police suspected that Baba Jukwa was a well placed party or government official considering the accuracy with which ‘juicy’ details were being dispatched by the shadowy character. There was no conviction and the matter died a natural death.

Social media has not always been negative for ZANU PF. Psychology Maziwisa used Facebook to appeal to voters and also defend ZANU PF during the run up to the 2013 elections. ZANU PF won these elections with a landslide and Maziwisa is no longer as active on social media as he was during the election campaigns.

However recently we have had both party officials and government officials speaking with one voice against social media. Police Commissioner General, Augustine Chihuri suggested that social media can ‘disturb the peace’ prevailing in the country. The ruling party youth league and state media have also castigated the use of social media blaming it for the disharmony currently obtaining in the ruling party.

President Mugabe has  had his say about social media warning officials against the use of those platforms to settle party matters and denigrate the party leadership. Minister of Finance Patrick Chinamasa once branded social media a ‘tool of regime change’ two years ago when he was speaking in Geneva.

Citizens and proponents of freedom of expression should not worry about how social media is threatening to cause the implosion of the ruling party. Rather we must all be worried about the framing of social media as a ‘national security threat’ that is gathering momentum within government and state media. This discourse is obviously gathering such momentum for the purposes of justifying a clampdown on social media users such as Professor Moyo and others.

Words such as ‘disturbing peace’ and ‘regime change tool ‘ have been used to describe and discredit the use of social media in the country. Government’s intention is to portray social media negatively in order to justify impending draconian measures against internet and social media at large.

Social media arrests have already occurred in the past with the most notable cases being the arrest of ‘Baba Jukwa’ and ‘Madzibaba Chacha’. ZANU PF does not know any other response to social media than a heavy handed one. Thus faced with its own internal contradictions, we must expect the ruling party to clamp down on social media.

The party simply cannot accept the democratisation effect of social media in governance and political processes. To be fair, ZANU PF is not the only party that has failed to cope with social media after, MDC-T leader; Morgan Tsvangirai also banned unofficial social media accounts in the party effectively restricting party officials from using social media.

Parties with dictatorial tendencies will struggle to be relevant in the new social media dispensation. Social media transcends borders as people can post outside our borders for a local audience. This means that governments will not easily silence users of social media.

Jonathan Moyo has already said he will not close his Twitter account “nyangwe zvadii” (no matter what). This means that the war against social media will escalate and citizens must brace for a crackdown by the ruling party. While I may be a political critic of Professor Moyo, his right to use social media must be protected. Moyo’s voice is not the only one that is in danger of being silenced. We are all at risk of being censored by a government and ruling party that is yet to accept that times have changed  and so must it.

I am an enthusiastic user of social media and I have no intention of stopping or being stopped.Social media gives a voice to the marginalised.