HARARE
–
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
has
reversed
a
decision
by
Zanu
PF’s
legal
secretary
Patrick
Chinamasa
to
fire
six
paid
social
media
activists
he
called
“rogue
elements.”
Mnangagwa
has
decreed
that
“the
said
dismissals
are
null
and
void,”
according
to
his
hand-written
comments
on
a
letter
of
appeal
by
Jonasi
Mandiwisa
Musara,
one
of
the
affected
individuals.
Musara
in
his
letter
said
they
were
pleading
with
Mnangagwa
to
“reverse
the
purported
dismissals
so
that
we
can
resume
our
work
of
using
social
media
to
defend,
promote
and
popularise
your
remarkable
#EDWORKS,
Zanu
PF
party
and
our
beloved
motherland
Zimbabwe.”
Musara
indicated
in
the
letter
that
he
had
recently
met
Mnangagwa
who
“made
it
clear
that
you
had
not
authorised
the
dismissals.”
Mnangagwa’s
intervention
which
undermines
Chinamasa
could
further
divide
his
party
which
is
battling
factional
fights
linked
to
succession
politics.
Chinamasa
is
executive
director
of
Varakashi4ED
Social
Media
Unit,
a
group
of
Zanu
PF
online
activists
paid
to
attack
Mnangagwa’s
critics
and
amplify
party
messages.
Chinamasa
said
he
fired
them
for
insulting
him
and
other
officials.
Tinotenda
Gachange,
one
of
the
sidelined
trolls,
on
Saturday
posted
Musara’s
letter
on
X.
It
now
carried
Mnangagwa’s
handwritten
comments
and
signature,
stating
that
he
had
not
approved
Chinamasa’s
decision
to
jettison
them.
Without
naming
Chinamasa,
Gachange
appeared
to
take
aim
at
the
former
finance
minister
accusing
him
of
trying
to
intimidate
them
into
abandoning
their
support
for
a
plan
to
amend
the
constitution
and
remove
term
limits
which
would
allow
Mnangagwa
to
seek
a
term
extension
after
his second
and
final
term
ends
in
2028.
“Successionists
and
rogue
anti-2030
elements
cloaked
in
deceit
are
attempting
to
silence
the
voices
of
progress.
Their
intimidation
tactics
are
clear
signs
of
cowardice,
aimed
at
undermining
the
persuasive
efforts
of
the
2030ists
who
support
President
Mnangagwa’s
term
extension,”
Gachange
wrote
on
X.
“President
Mnangagwa
stands
firm,
and
so
do
we,
undeterred
and
unbowed.”
Mnangagwa
denies
ambitions
to
extend
his
term,
but
his
critics
say
he
is
privately
urging
supporters
to
keep
up
the
campaign.
The
other
activists
who
are
set
to
return
are
Tafadzwa
Mawire,
Felix
Muzondo,
Pardon
Mangwende
and
Herbert
Mathe.