Mliswa takes aim at Charamba over handling of Geza protests

Outspoken former legislator Temba Mliswa has taken aim at Presidential Spokesperson George Charamba, accusing him of mishandling the government's communication over the planned but ultimately aborted October 17 protests organised by war veteran Blessed Geza.

The protests, which failed to take off, were preceded by a fake statement circulating on social media purporting to be from Vice President (Rtd) Constantino Chiwenga, condemning the demonstrations.

In response, Charamba issued a clarification on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, highlighting the misuse of official government stationery, while acknowledging that the letter contained a "well-intentioned" message.

"Abuse of government stationery: Kindly note that the message below, however well-intentioned, has been pasted on government stationery, without the knowledge, involvement, or sanction of the Department of Presidential Communications, to which the original stationery belongs," Charamba posted.

However, Mliswa criticised Charamba's handling of the matter, accusing him of deflecting attention from the real issue - the protests themselves.

"His solution was to evade the greater matter of the contents of the letter and instead lavish disproportionate amounts of self-righteous anger on the abuse of government stationery," Mliswa wrote on X.

The former Norton MP said Charamba's response betrayed political opportunism, suggesting he was trying to please multiple factions within the system.

"People were worried about the demonstration and messages around it more than that paper! His failure to leverage on this ended up as a sanctioning of the demonstration," he added.

Mliswa further questioned Charamba's reluctance to strongly denounce the planned protests, calling it uncharacteristic for someone in his position.

"Anyone familiar with his conduct and antics through his multiple ghost accounts could clearly pick out the dragging of feet. While cause existed to restrain abuse of government communication channels, an even greater cause of existential importance called for more. He offered none!"

The ex-legislator also accused Charamba of using anonymous social media accounts to attack critics, calling such conduct unbecoming of a Presidential Spokesperson and damaging to President Emmerson Mnangagwa's public image.

"Over time, as DCS, he has simply become a wild bully without professional decorum in public engagements, encapsulated by incessant insults of ‘Dununu' against any contrary thought or individual," Mliswa said.
"It's shocking behaviour for someone who is the Presidential Spokesperson and should have drawn government censure long ago, as it brings the President and the Office into disrepute."

Mliswa added that the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet should intervene to ensure Charamba's conduct does not continue to tarnish the presidency's image.

His latest remarks come just weeks after he accused Charamba of "sleeping on duty", claiming that exiled former minister Jonathan Moyo was doing a better job defending President Mnangagwa on the controversial 2030 presidential term-limit debate.

In response to Mliswa's repeated attacks, Charamba dismissed the former MP as "irrelevant", saying he was not worth engaging.