By a Correspondent
Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has defended his professional ethics and commitment to truth-telling after former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa accused him of lying, challenging the opposition politician to produce documentary evidence to support his position.
Chin’ono said the dispute was not about political personalities or rhetoric but about the fundamental responsibility of journalists to establish and report the truth, regardless of who may be embarrassed or angered by their findings.
“The real losers are the Zimbabwean people, who are constantly fed lies and expected to accept them without question,” Chin’ono said in a statement responding to Chamisa,’ he said in a post on his X account.
“A journalist’s duty is to establish and tell the truth, regardless of who is embarrassed by it.”
In a strong defence of his journalistic integrity, the fiery journalist said he was prepared to put his credibility behind the information he had published and challenged Chamisa to produce the official documents that would disprove his claims about the structure of the CCC.
He specifically challenged Chamisa to produce what he described as the party’s “legitimate and duly adopted” constitution, together with its official organogram showing the positions and individuals who constituted the party’s leadership.
The documents, Chin’ono said, should clearly identify the holders of key positions, including the president, vice-presidents, secretary-general, chairperson and other members of the leadership.
“To demonstrate how confident I am in what I wrote, despite Nelson Chamisa accusing me of lying, I put my hand on my heart today and make this public commitment,” Chin’ono said.
He then offered US$10,000 to charity if Chamisa could produce the documents and establish that Chin’ono’s account was incorrect.
“If Nelson Chamisa can produce the legitimate and duly adopted CCC constitution, together with the party’s official organogram showing who occupied its leadership positions, including the president, vice-presidents, secretary-general, chairperson and the rest of the leadership, I, Hopewell Chin’ono, will immediately hand over US$10,000 to any person he chooses for onward transmission to charities of his choice,” he said.
Chin’ono said the offer was intended to underline the level of confidence he had in his reporting, rather than to turn the dispute into a personal confrontation.
“That is how confident I am about what I have said,” he said.
He also rejected what he described as insults, excuses and political rhetoric, insisting that the disagreement could be resolved through verifiable evidence.
“There is no need for insults, excuses or political rhetoric. Simply produce the constitution and the organogram, and the US$10,000 will be paid,” Chin’ono said.
His response framed the dispute as a broader question of journalistic accountability, with Chin’ono maintaining that journalists should be willing to subject their work to scrutiny and defend their reporting with evidence.
The controversy comes against the backdrop of longstanding disputes over the CCC’s organisational structure and leadership, particularly following Chamisa’s departure from the opposition party in January 2024.
Chamisa resigned from the CCC citing what he described as infiltration and the undermining of the party’s structures. The party subsequently became embroiled in leadership disputes that contributed to the recall of CCC legislators and councillors.
