Staff Reporter

Fierce Government critic and political activist, Hopewell Chin’ono has been castigated by many Zimbabweans for taking pride in tarnishing he image of his country.

Zimbabweans who spoke to this publication had no kind words for Chin’ono who recently won the controversial International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award in Qatar, describing him as a paid agent hired to destabilize the country ahead of next year’s elections.

Melody Gunyere of Mandara suburbs in Harare accused Chin’ono of misrepresenting facts and being a shameless liar.

“I heard Chin’ono saying that he won the award for the journalistic work he has been doing in Zimbabwe of exposing corruption. If truth be told, the Government has been on the forefront of exposing and fighting corruption and Chin’ono should applaud the Government for its efforts in fighting graft instead of presenting himself as a man who is single handedly fighting corruption in the country,” said Gunyere.

Innocent Aruferi of Domboshava added that on many occasions, Chin’ono presents himself as a victim of the system but the truth is that he was the one abusing the Government by his lies.

“Chin’ono always presents himself as a victim of the system and he would want the world to believe that he was being persecuted by the Government for exposing corruption. The truth is that, Chin’ono has mastered the art of lying so that he gets international sympathy. He doesn’t deserve these awards because he is not an investigative journalist as he wants the world to believe but is a foot soldier for the local opposition parties,” said Aruferi.

Political analyst, Reason Wafawarova frowned on Chin’ono’s latest award and dismissed it as a nonentity.

“I hear a troubled king in some Arab country who is under fire for gross human rights violations related to an enormous human cost to the massive world cup construction in his tiny country has awarded a bitter ditched former Zanu PF apologist now masquerading as an investigative journalist an award for excellence in fighting corruption in Zimbabwe. It’s like Satan awarding Passion Java with a certificate in Exceptional Holiness,” said Wafawarova.

Meanwhile, Government has been fighting corruption in the country and has established the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) to investigate graft related cases. Since the advent of the New Dispensation, a number of Ministers including Obadiah Moyo, Douglas Karoro and Prisca Mupfumira, among others lost their jobs after they were implicated in corruption related cases.