COMEDIAN Doc Vikela who impersonates the character of President Emmerson Mnangagwa as Vakuru, has revealed that he has received a number of invites from state security agents.
Doc Vikela is the stage name of Victor Mpofu, a comedian who uses satire to criticise the country's political situation. He is known for his impersonations of Mnangagwa, often adopting the president's signature colourful scarves and mimicking his speech patterns.
In an interview on the Denny J podcast, Vikela revealed that he has been invited by state security agents numerous times. Quizzed on how many phone calls he has received from the President’s office and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Vikella responded…
“I wouldn’t know how many because some of them are bogus calls,” he said, mixing it with humour.
“There have been numerous (calls) and I have been invited a couple of times. The invitations are always sweet. These guys have been nice, they just want to make sure if there is anyone funding me or influencing my craft,” he said.
Vikela added that his invites were different from opposition politicians and activists' invites.
“There are threats given to people like Ostallos (Siziba) and then the Doc Vikela threats. It’s different and then they give their opinions of my act. Last time they asked me not to hold the picture frame upside-down. If you develop cold feet you might change your ways,” he said.
The relationship between the CIO and artists has been a complex and often contentious one. While there's no concrete, publicly available data on specific instances of the CIO targeting artists en masse, historical and anecdotal evidence suggests a pattern of government interference in artistic expression, with the CIO often implicated.
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