Anti-Nyaradzo Campaign Ringleader Eats Humble Pie, Forced To Wear Apolo-Jersey

A Zimbabwe social media activist who recently led a campaign against Nyaradzo Funeral Services, citing their alleged poor business practices, has been forced to eat humble pie and apologize.

Alistar Nyamarai Chibanda issued a public apology on Twitter on Saturday in which he said he was sorry about making “factually incorrect and defaming” comments about NSSA General Manager Arthur Manase.

Chibanda, a pastor, led a campaign against Nyaradzo, which saw the company trending for days as disgruntled Zimbabweans shared their negative experiences with the service.

To Chibanda’s credit, the social media campaign resulted in the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) issuing a statement.

IPEC said it had taken note of the grievances raised by the public and would engage with funeral assurers regarding the design and pricing of their products.

After the apparent success against Nyaradzo, Chibanda focused on NSSA, which has been plagued by allegations of corruption and embezzlement.

Chibanda, the founder of Alistar Chibanda Ministries and Liberation Faith Church International aka Faith Chapel, posted a now-deleted tweet in which he took aim at Manase and accused him of being corrupt.  In return, Manase threatened to sue the anti-corruption activist for defamation.

Alistair Chibanda then deleted all the tweets and issued a public apology to the NSSA General Manager.  Part of the anti-Nyaradzo campaign ringleader’s letter of apology reads,

Dear Sir  RE: PUBLIC APOLOGY AND RETRACTION OF MY TWEETS CONCERNING MR ARTHUR J. MANASE THE GENERAL MANAGER OF NSSA  I am writing in response to your letter dated 09 November 2022, referenced TD/rc which prompted the aforementioned action.

I have gone through the tweets I sent on 30 October 2022, 1 November 2022 and 8 November 2022 and I realized that the comments I made were factually incorrect and defaming.

I did not intent to tarnish or damage the General Manager of NSSA Mr. A. Manase’s good name, his family or his good reputation as a Christian and citizen of Zimbabwe.

I would like to sincerely apologize for my actions and the tweets have since been removed from my Twitter handle.  Regards,  Alistar N. Chibanda