Prominent Zimbabwean legal practitioners have issued urgent demands for retractions and apologies from social media commentator Reason Wafawarova following a series of posts alleging the existence of a US$20 million “Matabeleland cabal” linked to the nation’s constitutional reform agenda. Two separate law firms, Dube, Manikai & Hwacha (DMH Legal) and Mtetwa & Nyambirai, have written to Wafawarova on behalf of their respective clients, accusing him of publishing false and defamatory claims on the social media platform X.
DMH Legal, acting for senior partner Canaan Dube, dismissed the allegations as false, malicious, and grossly defamatory. The firm stated that Wafawarova falsely claimed Dube, alongside constitutional law expert Professor Jonathan Moyo and Advocate Thabani Mpofu, had received US$20 million to sanitise a presidential term extension agenda. Furthermore, the lawyers accused Wafawarova of misrepresenting Dube’s background by linking him to Matabeleland, describing the claim as both false and calculated to damage his reputation. In a letter dated 1 April 2026, DMH Legal demanded that Wafawarova immediately retract the statements, delete the offending posts, and publish a retraction on the same platform within 48 hours, warning that failure to comply would result in legal action.
Related Stories
A second letter, dated 2 April 2026, from Mtetwa & Nyambirai, acting on behalf of Advocate Thabani Mpofu, raises similar complaints. The firm stated that Wafawarova escalated the allegations by claiming Mpofu had been hired by Dube to produce a legal strategy paper outlining how presidential term limits could be altered without a referendum. According to the letter, Wafawarova alleged that Mpofu was part of a US$20 million scheme involving multiple actors tasked with advancing the purported agenda through Parliament. Mtetwa & Nyambirai described the claims as baseless and harmful, arguing they portray Mpofu as a corrupt and unethical legal practitioner willing to subvert the Constitution for financial gain.
The firm further contended that the posts had exposed their client to public ridicule and damaged both his professional and personal reputation, specifically casting doubt on his integrity. The lawyers stated that the posts were intended to characterise their client as a charlatan and a hypocrite who is motivated by money as opposed to principle. They argued that the content conveyed to every reasonable reader that Mpofu is unworthy of public trust and teamed up with other allegedly similarly afflicted persons to subvert the supreme law of the land for tainted monetary gain.
Consequently, the lawyers have given Wafawarova 24 hours to retract the statements, issue a full and unreserved apology, and confirm compliance, failing which legal proceedings may follow. This controversy comes amid heightened public debate over constitutional amendments and allegations of efforts to extend presidential term limits beyond 2028, an issue that has drawn sharp political and legal scrutiny across the country.
Leave Comments