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- Written by: Shorayi Spencer Guzha
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ZANU‑PF at the Helm:
Power, Abuse and Systemic Corruption
Human Rights Abuses
Independent monitoring by the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) consistently identifies ZANU‑PF as the leading perpetrator of rights violations. In June 2024, ZANU‑PF was responsible for 65% of all recorded violations, with total incidents reaching 137 cases, including assaults, forced participation in political events, and intimidation. Earlier in the year, February saw 188 reported violations, 54.8% attributed to ZANU‑PF action. Civil society and opposition figures are routinely targeted via arrests, prosecutions on trumped-up charges, and violence, tools used by the regime to quell dissent.
Corruption and Crony Capitalism
Corruption is deeply entrenched in Zimbabwe’s political economy. Transparency International ranked Zimbabwe at 21/100 on its 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index: 158th of 180 countries. State institutions, including the judiciary and police, have been repurposed to serve party interests. High-profile scandals include the Command Agriculture fraud, a COVID‑19 mask scheme, and a cancer‑machine contract, all tied to ZANU‑PF officials or associates. Notably, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a close associate of President Mnangagwa, is sanctioned by the US and UK for exploiting political connections to profit from state contracts and foreign currency deals. Wicknell Chivhayo and many others are benefiting from corruption at the expense of the starving citizens.
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- Written by: John Burke
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We asked:
Within the last 45 years since Zimbabwe's independence (18th April 1980) has Zanu PF simply morphed into a new type of Black Colonialists? How has Zimbabwe become "enriched" under the corrupt Zanu PF regime?
AI Deep Research Constructed the reply below:
Since Zimbabwe’s independence on April 18, 1980, ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front) has been the dominant political force, ruling continuously for the past 45 years.
The question of whether ZANU-PF has morphed into a new type of "Black Colonialists" hinges on comparing their governance to colonial exploitation, where a minority elite subjugates and extracts wealth from the majority. As for how Zimbabwe has become "enriched" under their rule, this likely probes whether the country—or specific groups within it—has benefited materially or otherwise, despite widespread corruption allegations.
ZANU-PF’s trajectory suggests a shift from its liberation roots to a system where power and resources are concentrated among a loyal elite, resembling colonial dynamics in some ways. After independence, Robert Mugabe’s initial reconciliation rhetoric aimed to unite a fractured nation, integrating ZANU-PF, ZAPU, and even white Rhodesians into government. However, the 1980s Gukurahundi campaign—where the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade killed an estimated 20,000 mostly Ndebele civilians in Matabeleland—marked an early turn toward authoritarian control, sidelining ZAPU and enforcing ZANU-PF dominance. The 1987 Unity Accord merged ZAPU into ZANU-PF, creating a de facto one-party state, a move critics argue prioritized power over pluralism.
Economically, ZANU-PF inherited a robust system—once dubbed the "breadbasket of Africa"—with a GDP growth rate of about 5% annually pre-independence. Yet, over decades, policies like the 2000 Fast Track Land Reform dismantled this. While intended to redistribute land from white farmers (0.6% of the population holding 70% of fertile land) to black Zimbabweans, it often enriched party loyalists—war veterans, cronies, and elites—rather than the broader population. Agricultural output crashed, exports dwindled, and hyperinflation hit, peaking at 79.6 billion percent monthly in 2008. The rural poor gained some land, but productivity tanked due to lack of support, while urban decay and unemployment soared. Life expectancy dropped from 68 in 1980 to 34 by the early 2000s, reflecting collapsed healthcare and living standards.
Corruption has been a hallmark, with scandals like the 1980s Paweni Scandal, the 1987 Zisco Steel fiasco, and recent US-sanctioned dealings involving Emmerson Mnangagwa, VP Constantino Chiwenga, and businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei. The elite—military brass, party officials, and connected tycoons—amassed wealth through mining (gold, diamonds), fuel deals, and state contracts, often via opaque firms like Tagwirei’s Sakunda Holdings. Meanwhile, 50% of Zimbabweans live in abject poverty today, a stark contrast to the colonial era’s white minority privilege, but now with a black ruling class as the beneficiaries.
Has ZANU-PF become "Black Colonialists"? The colonial parallel fits in their extraction of wealth for a minority while suppressing dissent—elections since 2000 are widely criticized as rigged, with violence (e.g., 2008’s Operation Mavhoterapapi) mirroring colonial coercion. Yet, unlike colonialists, ZANU-PF’s legitimacy rests on its anti-colonial struggle, a narrative it wields to justify control, even as it alienates the masses it once claimed to liberate.
"Enrichment" under ZANU-PF is lopsided. The nation’s formal GDP shrank from a potential $52 billion (if 5% growth had held) to $14 billion by 2016, per Zimbabwe News estimates. However, the party elite and their networks have grown rich—mansions in Harare’s Borrowdale Brooke, stakes in Marange diamond fields, and offshore accounts tell the tale. For ordinary Zimbabweans, any enrichment is survivalist: small-scale farming on redistributed land or informal trading amid economic ruin. Education, a post-independence bright spot (90.7% literacy by 2013), has eroded with underfunded schools, though it remains a legacy of early ZANU-PF investment.
In sum, ZANU-PF’s 45-year reign has echoes of colonial exploitation—power and profit for a few, stagnation for most—cloaked in liberation rhetoric. Zimbabwe’s "enrichment" is real but selective, a veneer of progress atop a hollowed-out state.
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- Written by: Michelle Mudzviti
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The 'Solution' to Zimbabwe's Fractured Opposition Politics Problem
The Zimbabwean people have suffered enough from a fractured opposition. The cycle of electioneering distracts Zimbabwe’s leadership from the urgent task of economic recovery, as they focus instead on factional power plays. It is time for us to put the past behind us and our differences aside and focus on the bigger picture. The stakes are high, and the next election will decide whether we continue on the path of decline or whether we take a bold step towards restoring democracy, dignity and economic freedom for the citizens of Zimbabwe.
I would like to present a proposal for a practical and fair path forward, one that prioritizes the will of the people, creates space for all leaders to demonstrate their abilities, and ensures we select the strongest candidate to represent the unified coalition in the next election.
Given the urgency of the situation and the need to act decisively against a ruling party that is already organizing, the opposition must prioritize unity, strategic action, and effective mobilization to capitalize on the limited time available before the next election.
1. Form a Unified and Clear Coalition
Instead of lengthy debates about who is fit to lead a united opposition in Zimbabwe at the moment, the opposition should work quickly to form a unified coalition with clear, actionable goals. The issue of leadership will be addressed at a later stage (see point 5 below). What is most crucial right now is for the leaders of the different factions to demonstrate a willingness to put their differences aside for the greater good. Agree on a unified vision for the country, where key issues (e.g. economic recovery, corruption, national security) are prioritized.
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- Written by: John Burke
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Gukurahundi Genocide: Tragic Subject - Petition to the Prime Minister!
On Thursday 5th December 2024 we revisited the topic of the Gukurahundi Genocide, having previously done so on Thursday 19 July 2018 {CLICK FOR THE 2018 Petition} to the then Prime Minister Theresa May {CLICK FOR ARTICLE}- again in partnership with ZAPU members - who were the main "targets" of this heinous campaign. Ostensibly started in 1982 with the dismissal of Joshua Nkomo - from the fledgling Zimbabwe Government, upon the order of Robert Mugabe.
This time around, we congregated outside the newly "secured" Zimbabwe Embassy - they have got some grim looking metal security gated fabrications at the side and front entrances - to make the Embassy even less friendly or appealing to the Zimbabwean Diaspora - security concerns or Guilt? - we have to ask why these new gates - {photo on Flickr - click to see for yourself SIDE DOOR - 429 CORNER DOOR }.
True to form the guilty inside locked their doors - simply as we were there. Indeed they sent out a CIO to sit in his new BMW X6 to "observe us" - so we took their photos too - again on our Flickr Album of the day. {CLICK HERE TO SEE THE DAYS PHOTO ALBUM} Please note that due to technical constraints, the videos recorded today will take some considerable time to be 'compressed' in order to be displayed upon our Flickr Platform - so expect videos to be appearing by the weekend please.
We took some more photos with our "Zanu PF Must Go" banner and by 13:30 we sidled off towards Trafalgar Square and onto Whitehall. by 13:45 we were arranged opposite Downing Street - under the gaze of "Monty" at his commemorative statue. By the time we have said our hellos to the new supporters opposite Downing Street it was time to present our band of 6 petitioners to the Diplomatic Police Unit in control of Downing Street. Ronald T Mutumbi, was due to be the Organiser of the 6 of us today - but had unexpected problems with travel on the day - such a pity.
So we 6 lined up at the solid security gates {making the Zimbabwean Embassy gates looking a little flimsy!} at the entrance to Downing Street. Our Police Diplomatic Unit Escort - was a friendly as any tourist guide - calling us in by our first names! As some may know within those gates we have to go through Air Port Quality X-Ray machines to check all our bags, mobile phones or any metal objects.
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- Written by: Richard Gandari, John Burke and BBC Africa
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5th December 2024 at 14:00 to the Office of the UK Prime Minister,
Also by e-mail and post to The FCDO and the Commonwealth Secretariate in London.
Some may know this as the Gukurahundi Genocide - but the Shona word of 'Gukurahundi' cannot ever convey the horrors and 'pure psychotic outrage' conducted sometime from 1983 (approx.) to 1987 when - due to this violent and heartless pressure the leader of ZAPU at that time Dr Joshua Nkomo, reluctantly agreed to subsume ZAPU into the newly created ZANU PF - laughingly termed the "UNITY ACCORD".
A lesson in violence and deceit that still haunts Zimbabwe to this day - as well as being an ongoing strategy of the Zanu PF regime ever since - and now continued by the complicit (in the genocide} E D Mnangagwa.
But returning to the word "GUKURAHUNDI" - the literal meaning, which loosely translates to "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains". However this can never represent the inhuman genocide which took place - instigated by Mugabe to enforce a one-party State.
The Beginnings
Identifying as a member or supporter of ZAPU became a death wish.
Under the then Prime Minister, Robert Mugabe, a caveat was promulgated, outlawing ZAPU and forfeiting all its properties to the State. Some of the properties belonged to ZPRA, the armed wing of ZAPU during the liberation struggle. Everything was seized and forfeited to the state. Dr Joshua Nkomo was persecuted and hounded into exile. His lieutenants, the late Dr Dumiso Dabengwa and the late Commander Lookout Masuku were thrown into Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison on trumped up charges.
Just like in East Germany in 1990, it has been four decades of denial and deafening silence.
The Evidence Slowly Emerging {Still}
But now, the new light is being shed on these days of horror. Thousands of historical documents that appear to expose the perpetrators are now becoming available in a raft of foreign archival collections. The documents are wide-ranging and include, among others, diplomatic correspondence, intelligence assessments and raw intelligence garnered by spies recruited from within the Zimbabwean government. These papers—augmented by the testimony of Zimbabwean witnesses finding courage in old age—appear to substantiate what survivors and scholars have always suspected but never been able to validate: Mugabe, then Prime Minister, was the prime architect of mass killings that were well-planned and systematically executed.
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- Written by: Dickson Chikwizo CCC and ZHRO
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It was a big 'showdown' to the community {and the World}, that injustice is happening to a greater degree in Zimbabwe than ever before.
Myself, Tendai, Model, Simbarasche, Greatman and Kelvin {see photo} delivered the 24 page written petition to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer at 13:30 Thursday 24th October 2024 {and an additional copy was e-mailed to Robert Ison on the Zimbabwe Desk round the corner at the FCDO}
The hand over of our two petitions is sending a strong message that things are extremely serious in Zimbabwe.
The ladies group later in the day {at 14:30} handed over a petition looking at the terrible situation with maternal deaths {mortality} and childhood related fatalities. Three of the lady petitioners have already provided feedback on how they felt the day within the gates of Downing Street had meant for them.
- Phillis Melody {CLICK HERE to read her reaction}
- Josephine {CLICK HERE to read this report}
- Jane Mundangepfupfu's reaction is within the body of the write up of the 24th October 2024, as is further writing from Josephine Jenje-Mudimbu. That full report can be found at this link {CLICK HERE}
I have added some important and significant extracts from the full written petition regarding the Constitutional and other Injustices within Zimbabwe - as in my photo referred to previously. Please read the items below in italics:
"The Ongoing Constitutional Injustice in Zimbabwe.
From all sides, both within and without Zimbabwe, the Zanu PF regime is failing. They are failing to act as a government. However, their self-obsession and desire to maintain power – makes them more akin to a Mafia! Its not just us, listen to ZAPU President Michael Nkomo below;"
Michael Sibangilizwe Nkomo has written today {23rd October 2024} on the ZAPU.ORG website a heart-felt & poignant message regarding the serious Maternal Death issues within Zimbabwe. {Michael is the son of the ZAPU leader at the time of Zimbawe's hard fought Indepence, Joshua Nkomo}.
“The disastrous reign of ZANU PF in Zimbabwe is now a regional crisis affecting the whole of SADC. Fearing peer review and the regional call for accountability, the rogue regime in Harare is now fomenting chaos by actively participating in the rigging of elections across the SADC region.”
“So ‘politically radioactive’ is ZANU PF that everything it touches turns to chaos.”