海角大神

On June 19, Zimbabwean Member of Parliament Edward Chindori-Chininga was driving through his rural district in the northeastern part of the country when his silver SUV swerved erratically off the road and slammed into a tree. By the time police arrived, the veteran lawmaker 鈥� a longtime member of Zimbabwe鈥檚 ruling ZANU PF party 鈥� was dead.

Investigators quickly cleared the crumpled Jeep Cherokee from the scene and declared the death a tragic accident, but another story started to circulate.

鈥淐hininga wanted transparency and he [was] taken out鈥� by his political enemies, wrote one critic of the regime, an anonymous and immensely popular Facebook user who goes by the moniker 鈥淏aba Jukwa.鈥�

Indeed, his claim was not without reason: Mr. Chindori-Chininga had recently spearheaded a damning parliamentary report about government corruption in the country鈥檚 diamond mines. And he certainly wouldn鈥檛 be the first Zimbabwean politician to die in a car "accident"聽after refusing to toe President Robert Mugabe鈥檚 official line.

But something else also lent credence to Baba Jukwa鈥檚 claim. Just a week earlier, the self-declared former member of the ruling party had told his quarter million Facebook followers that local officials were 鈥減lanning to sink Edward Chindori-Chininga and replace him with their puppet.鈥�

Suddenly, the anonymous Facebook informant, who describes himself as a 鈥渃oncerned father, fighting nepotism鈥� and uses a cartoon avatar of a wide-eyed old man, had the world鈥檚 attention. The Economist wrote that some thought he was 鈥渁 sort of Zimbabwean Robin Hood,鈥� while Business Insider trumpeted the 鈥渁nonymous mole revealing Zimbabwe鈥檚 secrets.鈥�

But within southern Africa, Baba Jukwa had already made waves. Beginning in March, when the Baba Jukwa account first appeared on Facebook, it drew a loyal following with its daily, gossipy missives about the internal workings of ZANU PF, which has ruled Zimbabwe since Mr. Mugabe came to power in 1980 at the end of a brutal civil war with the country鈥檚 white regime.

The party鈥檚 steely grip on power is set to be challenged again next week, when Zimbabweans go to the polls for the first time since widely criticized 2008 elections, in which opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew after widespread violence against his supporters. (Mr. Tsvangirai later became prime minister in a power-sharing agreement).

In the meantime, Baba Jukwa is waging a kind of social media war on the ZANU PF party machinery. Vicious and often intensely personal in his attacks, he posts several times daily, unflinchingly naming names 鈥� and phone numbers. Nearly every message on the site includes contact details for party officials whom the anonymous informant accuses of corruption, non-delivery of services, and other crimes.

鈥淎sijiki!鈥� goes his signature sign off, We are not turning back!

Baba Jukwa claims to be a single former ZANU PF member, based in the capital city of Harare and working alone. He told the Monitor 鈥� on Facebook, naturally 鈥� that he left the party 17 years ago, after seeing how the country was being run in a 鈥減artisan manner with masses suppressed, our people raped, maimed, killed and victimised.鈥�

The vacillating tone and structure of his posts, however, has caused some to speculate that there may not be a single person behind the account, but rather a cohort of opposition members. But whoever he 鈥� or they 鈥� are, Baba Jukwa鈥檚 intricate knowledge of the ruling party鈥檚 inner cabal has caused those in power to take him seriously. 聽

In May, one ZANU PF official told a South African newspaper that Baba Jukwa was a 鈥渕odern-day Judas Iscariot.鈥� Meanwhile, the state-controlled Herald published a scathing editorial denouncing Baba Jukwa as a 鈥渞ogue鈥� faction engaging in 鈥渦nrelenting efforts to destroy the very party that raised them from the dust.鈥�

鈥淶imbabwe under President Mugabe remains the first country to embark on reforms meant to totally reverse all the ills associated with colonialism,鈥� the editorial read. 鈥淲e are 鈥� the envy of the world鈥檚 oppressed masses鈥�. It is only the [opposition including] Baba Jukwa who still cherish colonial conquest.鈥�

And over the last several days, a rumor has circulated widely in national and international media that Mugabe has placed a $300,000 bounty on Baba Jukwa鈥檚 head. But the Facebook informant says he is undeterred.

鈥淚 am not worried at all, these people are not intelligent as the world thinks,鈥� he wrote in a message to the Monitor. 鈥淭hey are only murderers thriving on people's fear with their continued intimidation's on masses.鈥�

Indeed, mass intimidation has been part and parcel to Mugabe鈥檚 hold on power over the last 33 years. And he has cultivated a media landscape to match.

The state controls the largest newspapers in the country and state-run channels provide the only TV and radio news access for most Zimbabweans. Arrests of independent journalists are common.

Within that context, 鈥渢here鈥檚 a great appetite for alternative sources of information,鈥� says Mohamed Keita, the Africa advocacy coordinator for the Committee to Project Journalists, an international NGO based in New York.

But such a media vacuum also means that those who enter the fray to challenge the status quo may not operate exactly like traditional reporters.聽

鈥淗e鈥檚 just a citizen who鈥檚 used social media to expand the national conversation,鈥� Mr. Keita says of Baba Jukwa. 鈥淪o the way this person operates is not going to be bound by the rules of ethical journalism.鈥�

Indeed, Baba Jukwa鈥檚 posts have often veered towards hysterical. Earlier this month he called on his followers to kidnap the children of Youth Development Minister Saviour Kusukuwere, who he says was involved in Chindori-Chininga鈥檚 death. (He also published a panicked screed alleging that Mr. Kusukuwere was gay, part of a 鈥渂andwagon of thieves and homosexuals [who] must be voted out.鈥�)

And his impact on the wider political conversation may be limited. After all, the nearly 300,000 people who follow the Baba Jukwa page are from the minority of Zimbabweans who have Internet access to begin with 鈥� a group that is already more likely to skew educated and urban, and therefore to support the opposition already.

But Baba Jukwa insists his page serves an essential function in the country鈥檚 pockmarked political landscape.

鈥淚t's sad that the international community has let Zimbabweans down by allowing evil people to remain in the picture,鈥� he wrote to this reporter. 鈥淗ere I am giving hope to our people through the truth which they are denied.鈥澛�