Former Zanu PF legislator and Cabinet minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has laughed off rumours circulating on social media claiming that he has died or is critically ill, dismissing the reports as a premature death hoax.
Moyo, who has been based in Nairobi, Kenya, since fleeing Zimbabwe following the November 2017 military intervention that toppled the late former president Robert Mugabe, said he was alive and well.
Reacting to the rumours, Moyo said: “Hahaha. Goodness me. Their death wishes are self-indulgent and premature. I’m not dead, yet!”
The former Zanu PF political strategist said he was in fact spending time with his family and children, who are currently at home during the school holidays.
Speculation about Moyo’s alleged death spread rapidly across social media platforms, including X, formerly Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Some social media users claimed that Moyo had died in exile, while others cited his relative silence on social media as supposed evidence that he was seriously ill or had died.
Moyo, who is usually highly active and outspoken on social media, had been relatively quiet between May 26 and June 30, amid his involvement as a political consultant in the constitutional amendment process.
Far from being incapacitated, Moyo was closely involved in the process that culminated in the passage of controversial constitutional amendments, which altered Zimbabwe’s presidential and parliamentary term arrangements and changed the mechanism for choosing the president.
His involvement in the constitutional overhaul has kept him at the centre of political debate, with his role in the far-reaching political, electoral and governance changes attracting both praise and criticism.
Within Zanu PF circles, Moyo has been portrayed by some as a skilled political strategist who helped engineer a significant reconfiguration of the country’s political system.
In opposition circles, however, he has been criticised as a political opportunist and a high-stakes political gambler.
Moyo remains one of the most polarising and intellectually influential figures in Zimbabwean politics.
Over the past three decades, his political career has been marked by dramatic shifts. He moved from being a fierce critic of government to becoming one of its most prominent proponents and spokespeople under Mugabe.
He later became embroiled in bitter Zanu PF succession struggles before fleeing into exile following the 2017 military intervention.
Despite remaining outside Zimbabwe for nearly a decade, Moyo has continued to play a significant role in the country’s political affairs from abroad.
NewsHawks
