
ED Spokesperson Labels Journalists "Insurgents" For Sharing Geza Content

A senior Zimbabwean government official, George Charamba, who serves as Deputy Chief Secretary for Presidential Communications, has warned journalists and media outlets against disseminating video messages by Blessed Geza.
Responding to an excerpt of Geza’s recent statement shared on the social media platform X by The NewsHawks, Charamba asserted that the act of republishing such content can only be done by people who are part of the “insurgency.”
Charamba warned journalists that those who circulate Geza’s messages are complicit in subversive activities. Said Charamba:
YOU HAVE TO BE COMPLETELY UNTRAINED OR PART OF INSURGENCY TO PUBLISH A MESSAGE LIKE THIS IN THE NAME OF JOURNALISM. WE TAKE LONG TO REACT BUT WHEN WE DO, TIME DIES FOR YOU!!!!
In his latest message, delivered via social media platforms on Tuesday night, which was deemed subversive by Charamba, Geza issued a warning to Zimbabweans for disregarding his call for a national shutdown intended to pressure President Emmerson Mnangagwa to step down. He said:
Kana tati izvo “shut down”, garai kumba. Garai kumba mose because munhu amuri kuteerera iyeye ndiye munhu atiri kuda kuti aende… Chatinokumbirisa kuti mugare kumba ndechekuti pakurwiswa kuchaitwa zvigananda izvi, zvimwe zvacho zvine ma bodyguard ane pfuti, zvimwe zvacho zvakatsvagirwa ma mercernary ane pfuti, panokwanisa kuitika exchange yepfuti mukaitwa crossfire.
(When we say ‘shut down,’ stay at home. All of you stay at home because the person you’re listening to is the one we want to leave… We ask you to stay home because during the attacks that will take place on these [Zvigananda], some of them have bodyguards with guns, others have hired mercenaries with guns. There could be an exchange of gunfire, and you might get caught in the crossfire.)
This is not the first instance in which Charamba has issued threats against local journalists for publishing content deemed unfavourable by the political establishment.
In 2023, Charamba threatened members of the press with imprisonment for reporting on corruption allegations involving individuals linked to Zimbabwe’s ruling elite, as exposed in Al Jazeera’s “Gold Mafia” documentary.
Using an account on X (formerly Twitter), which he has publicly acknowledged as his, Charamba issued a warning in a post that read:
FRIENDLY ADVICE TO ALL RECKLESS JOURNALISTS: Al Jazeera is not a court of law before whose claims impart privileges to defamatory utterances.
It is merely some weaponized channel. If you are reckless enough to repeat what its phoney documentary defamatorily says, hoping to plead: ‘I heard/saw it on Al Jazeera,’ you will be sorry for yourself.
Do not for once think there is grit to act against defamatory and politically motivated journalism. Faceless Twitter names egging you on will not be a factor when brickbats come. Be warned.”
In his statement, the Presidential Spokesperson ominously referenced the incarceration of opposition parliamentarian Job Sikhala (who spent nearly two years in pre-trial detention), implicitly signalling how the government might deal with journalists who deviate from the official narrative in their coverage of sensitive matters.
Meanwhile, HStv journalist Blessed Mhlanga remains in pre-trial detention following his arrest on 24 February 2025 in Harare.
Mhlanga is being charged under Section 164 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, accused of transmitting data messages allegedly inciting violence and causing damage to property.
The charges are linked to a series of interviews he conducted with Blessed Geza, a war veteran and outspoken critic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.
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