By Own Correspondent| TrustAfrica coordinator and ZimAlliance member Biggs Bomba has demanded a retraction and apology from the state media The Herald following the publication of a story on its front page alleging that he was part of a team of individuals plotting to topple President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.

The story titled “Plot To Unleash Violent Protests Unearthed” alleged that a group a shady organisations with links to opposition MDC Alliance are organising to spearhead and unleash civil unrest in their bid to overthrow Mnangagwa’s administration.

According to the report, Bomba is part of eight local activists and a Newsday journalist who is receiving training in the Maldives under the banner of a Serbian organisation called Centre for Non Violent Action and Strategies (CANVAS).

However, Bomba demanded a retraction from the state media arguing that the report was not only false but intended to clampdown on targeted individuals and muzzle the civic space and voice.

He said:

I REMAIN UNDETTERED IN ADVOCATING FOR A BETTER ZIMBABWE FOR ALL!

Today, I am compelled to issue this public statement, given the consistent pattern of harassment and increasing threats against my person by the state security apparatus in Zimbabwe.

I would like to dismiss with total contempt the outright lies published on the front page of today’s Herald and syndicated in the Chronicle in an article titled “Plot to unleash violent protests unearthed.”

My name and the organization that I work for, TrustAfrica and the ZimAlliance collaborative, are recklessly mentioned as behind the so-called plots to overthrow the Zimbabwean government, without any shred of evidence.

I declare this totally false, as would be established by any basic look at the facts.

I demand an equally prominent full apology and retraction of the lies by the Herald, failure of which, I reserve my rights to pursue justice through the courts.

The article, which reveals that there “are individuals that security services in Zimbabwe have been watching”, is clearly a hatchet job intended to spread fear and intimidation and set an obvious pretext to clampdown on targeted individuals and muzzle the civic space and voice.

The fact of the matter is that citizens are suffering and understandably frustrated as the government seems unable to provide solutions. Therefore, the government of Zimbabwe is better advised to urgently address the dire state of economic emergency in this country rather than create imaginary dissidents.

This is the only way to avert the looming social crisis in this country. No amount of spin and scapegoating can hide the fact that the real problem is the fact that the economy continues to slide from bad to worse without any solution in sight.

I have made my own position very clear on several occasions and I remain undeterred in advocating for a better Zimbabwe for all, underpinned by freedom, fairness and an unwavering pursuit of a brighter future.

The harassment against myself and other civic leaders must stop. It has no place in a free and democratic society.

A Better Zimbabwe for All is Possible! Briggs Bomba