Research Findings
Zimbabwe Peace Project
As shown on the picture below, an army of trolls circulated a flier encouraging people to
vote for Flora Bhuka, a ZANU PF Parliamentary candidate for Gokwe Nembudziya or else
they will be beaten, killed or made to clean toilets with their tongues. This was made to
tarnish her image as a violent politician and in a way, to discourage voters from voting for
her.
Women in politics do not have to deal with the electorate alone. They also have to deal
with their families. Therefore, when they venture into politics, the possibility of having
their images tarnished, losing elections and losing family at the same time is a strong
consideration which sometimes disincentivises them from venturing into politics. Those
that choose to remain in politics against all these odds face an additional layer of
challenges: to counter this gendered disinformation and to restore public confidence in
their candidacy. This is not an easy task to accomplish given the fact that Zimbabwean
consumers of information rarely interrogate or fact check the information that is posted.
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