Violence on Zimbabwe’s investigative journalists continues as another is killed
Investigative journalist Watson Flexy Munyaka died on 17 March 2025 after being brutally thrown from a moving 4X4 in broad daylight. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this heinous murder and calls on the Zimbabwean authorities to do everything in their power to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
This violence took place in Marondera, a central neighbourhood southeast of the capital, Harare. Munyaka was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He was one of the founders of Dug Up, a collective of independent investigative journalists launched in September 2024 to investigate corruption and crime in Zimbabwe.
‘Watson was our man on the ground. He was the one who allowed us to conduct in-depth investigations in Zimbabwe,’ Maynard Manyowa, the UK-based collective’s senior producer, told RSF.
A few days earlier, Dug Up had published a report on the ruling ZANU-PF and posted videos documenting internal tensions between the president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and his vice-president, Constantine Chiwenga.
Police opened an investigation on 17 March to determine the reasons and circumstances of Munyaka’s murder.
‘Fighting corruption, drug trafficking, poaching … The cases Watson Flexy Munyaka investigated were sensitive and of public interest. His … murder, which highlights the climate of violence faced by investigative journalists in Zimbabwe, must not go unpunished,’ said Sadibou Marong, RSF Sub-Saharan Africa Director.
Munyaka worked as a journalist for Khuluma Afrika, an investigative journalism centre based in Harare, between 2017 and 2019. Notably, he exposed ivory poaching in the country. In 2018, he was a regular guest on South African radio station Power 987, for which he analysed current events.
The 38-year-old journalist had investigated several sensitive cases since launching Dug Up, including matters involving Delish Nguwaya, a businessman linked to a drug and corruption scandal during the Covid-19 pandemic, and Walter Magaya, a [controversial preacher whose name has been associated with murders and other crimes. This year, UNISA refuted claims Magaya was its alumnus].
These investigations were scheduled to be published in April on Dug Up’s YouTube channel.
This latest act of violence comes amid a growing crackdown on criticism of the authorities in Zimbabwe. Journalist Blessed Mhlanga from the independent outlet, Alpha Media Holdings, has been detained since 25 February 2025. Mhlanga is accused of ‘inciting hatred’ for covering a press conference during which war veteran Blessed Geza criticised Mnangagwa.
Zimbabwe is ranked 116th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2024 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
- This article was first published here
- UPDATE: news24 reported on 31 March that nine journalists were arrested in Harare during a mass stayaway, with an X account said to belong to Zimbabwean presidential spokesperson George Charamba stating that the media should be ‘careful how you practice your craft’
- ZimEye.net offered another angle on the murder of Munyaka, here
