‘Baba Jukwa’ Friend or Foe?

Criticism regarding Baba Jukwa has surfaced since he promised change that never came in the July 31st election. He seemingly gave Zimbabweans who have access to Facebook ‘false hope’  regarding the elections. There is speculation of the suspicious, faceless character and some see him as a Trojan horse planted by ZANU-PF as a weapon of mass distraction to enable them to spy on the people who do not support them. Others, however continue to ‘Like’ Baba Jukwa with the hope that he will provide some more new and enlightening information that would change what has become a nightmarish election result for some.

Baba Jukwa the most famous tech savvy social media leaker to come out of Zimbabwe in recent years. He is a whistle blower, leaker or mole who is exposing his political party’s secrets online. Baba Jukwa has a following of 351,062 followers on Facebook, a pretty significant number for someone who has been on Facebook for only a few months. His social media following is a testament to the yearning for freedom of expression among the Zimbabwean people. There was a time in Zimbabwe that people who never have dreamt of even thinking of opposing Mugabe privately ,publicly was totally unheard of.

His anonymity adds to the suspense of the posts and the followers cannot seem to get enough of Baba Jukwa’s expose’. He claims to be from the Mujuru faction of the ZANU-PF party which is at loggerheads with the Mnangagwa faction. Mnangagwa is reported to be the handpicked successor to Mugabe who has for years ‘ punished’ anyone who has dared to mention the word ‘successor’. Mnangagwa who owns the once popular Zimbabwean website NewZimbabwe.com has used the site to try and counter the famed Baba Jukwa. Baba Jukwa is seeking an exit strategy given that though these elections are ushering another continuation of the Mugabe regime there are causalities of which Baba Jukwa’s faction seems to be one of them.

It is not clear what Baba Jukwa hopes to accomplish but he has certainly shaken a few in the ZANU-PF party at its core even though it is not measureable as yet. Among his revelations are who killed who within the party, intra-party deaths are the order of the day in Zimbabwe. Perhaps the most beckoning were the  scandalous revelations of the practicing homosexuals in the ZANU-PF party. He mentioned the ministers who had or were having sexual relations with other men in Zimbabwe. Mugabe is well known for his vitriol towards gays where he said, “They are worse than dogs and pigs, yes worse than dogs and pigs”  yet he has been silent to his gay friends who are practicing homosexuals and cross dressers, his chief counselors, Mugabe’s confidantes and cabinet has  the most gay men on planet earth.

He has been dubbed as Zimbabwe’s Most Wanted,  a hero to most who revel in his disclosures of the corrupt ZANU-PF party much to the annoyance of the ruling elite. According to media sources there is a bounty on his head for $300,000 to anyone who can reveal his identity. $300,000 is too little money for such as big task since Baba Jukwa has eluded crafty Mugabe. Mugabe’s spokespeople claim that he is not bothered by Baba Jukwa but those who know him best know it is getting to him because there has never been anyone to challenge Mugabe’s reign as mini-god in Zimbabwe.

It remains to be seen whether the Baba Jukwa character is truly a friend of the impending revolution or another ZANU-PF plot devised by Nikuv to distract voters.

Zimbabwe Election Infographic by Al-Jazeera 2013