Zim’s future demands an entirely fresh agenda

By The Zimbabwe Independent | Jan. 9, 2026

THE year 2025 will be remembered not for progress, but for a profound abdication of responsibility by the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

It marked a lowest point in governance, defined by appalling mismanagement of public resources and a cynical misprioritisation of desperately limited state funds.

While critical sectors such as healthcare and education crumbled under the weight of neglect, the administration saw fit to lavish resources on peripheral expenditures, including purchasing vehicles for content creators and traditional chiefs.

This was not mere profligacy; it was a clear signal of distorted priorities, placing political patronage above national survival.

Simultaneously, we witnessed the alarming erosion of institutional integrity. The State House, a symbol of national sovereignty, was effectively repurposed as an annex of Zanu PF headquarters.

This blurring of lines between party and state is symptomatic of a deeper malaise: the subordination of the national interest to a partisan agenda. Then comes the so-called “2030” agenda, which is a thinly-veiled and unconstitutional scheme to illegally extend Mnangagwa’s term. This political manoeuvring consumes energy and resources that should be dedicated to addressing a dire humanitarian crisis.

Concurrently, the very agents mandated to protect citizens have become perpetrators, with human rights systematically trampled by security forces. The right to demonstrate has been banned under this government. So sad. The economic consequences are catastrophic and deliberate. An economy strangled by mismanagement has left ordinary Zimbabweans struggling to secure even basic sustenance.

In a climate of such desperation, we are losing a generation, as young people, the nation’s vital backbone, succumb to the scourge of drug abuse. Rather than enacting policies to alleviate this suffering, the government has chosen to deepen it, increasing the regressive Value Added Tax to fund its own extravagance at the people’s expense.

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This trajectory is unsustainable and morally bankrupt. We, therefore, call for constitutional adherence and fiscal rectitude. The authority to govern is derived from the people, and it is to the people that the government must be accountable. Specifically, the Finance minister, Mthuli Ncube, must immediately end the scandalous delay in deploying the Sugar Tax for its intended purpose — cancer treatment.

To withhold these funds while citizens die is an act of gross negligence. Why has it taken so long for the government to procure cancer machines? Why the delay? It doesn't make sense at all.

Furthermore, the blatant politicisation of public funds, notably the Presidential Empowerment Scheme, must cease. These are national resources, intended to benefit all Zimbabweans irrespective of political allegiance. The current practice of using them as a party slush fund is unacceptable. We demand an immediate, independent and transparent audit of all such discretionary funds. Parliament must play its role.

Without a fundamental restoration of the rule of law and a genuine recommitment to public service, 2026 threatens only greater hardship.

The government must choose: serve the nation or face the irrevocable judgment of a people pushed to the brink.