Zimbabwe's ex-Minister of ICT's X account hacked

Zimbabwe's former Minister of Information Communication Technology and opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa has become the latest high-profile political figure to fall prey to cybercrime after his X account (formerly Twitter) was hacked early Tuesday morning.

In a message shared via his verified WhatsApp channel, Chamisa confirmed the breach, stating that unauthorised actors had gained control of his social media account. He assured the public that his cybersecurity team was working closely with the X support team to recover the compromised account and implement protective measures.

"To my fellow citizens, I wish to kindly inform you that my X (formerly Twitter) account has been hacked and compromised by cybercriminals," read the statement signed "~nc."
"Our cybersecurity team is working diligently with X support team to fix this problem, regain control and implement remedial measures. We will keep you updated on the status of the account recovery and any actions being taken."

While Chamisa did not disclose how the breach occurred, the incident has sparked renewed concerns about digital security among Zimbabwean public figures and institutions.

This latest hack follows a string of recent cyberattacks targeting local leaders. In a previous incident, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume had his WhatsApp account hijacked in a sophisticated social engineering scam. The hacker, posing as former Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi, contacted prominent individuals including journalist Hopewell Chin'ono and tech entrepreneur Kuda Musasiwa under the guise of a fake online ambassadorial programme.

The scammer sent messages claiming recipients had been nominated for an award and asked them to expect a code for verification. That code turned out to be a WhatsApp verification code, which the attacker then used to take over Mafume's account and access his contacts.

Cybersecurity experts have long warned that public figures are prime targets for phishing and social engineering tactics, and have urged stronger digital literacy and multi-factor authentication practices.

As of midday Tuesday, the unusual posts that had appeared on Chamisa's X timeline—reportedly promoting a digital currency under the name "God Is In It ($GIT)"—had been removed, and the account appeared to be under his team's control once more.

Authorities and digital security advocates continue to urge the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity across all digital platforms.