“PLEASE Mukoma, keep a diary and report to us when you return,” wrote Sister Dorcas S. formerly at Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, now in the United Kingdom.
Thousands upon thousands Diasporans left the homeland, not because they were unemployed, but that their wages were acting out and cutting up. They are thirsty about Zimbabwe news, and what they call “the situation.”
In that regard, nothing had changed, except that almost everybody I knew had a shadow job. I was told that teachers had given up discussing this matter with government authorities; nurses were in the same predicament as indeed were university professors.
I was unable to verify the story that university lecturers earned less than US$500 per month. School teachers earned less. The following stories were alarming.
Teachers had devised a system called “extra lessons” right under the noses of the Department. Each child forks out at least US$10 per month for these “extra lessons” without which, learners were guaranteed to fail national grade examinations.
There were reports that patients have died at Parirenyatwa Hospital while waiting for emergency attention. A suggestion was made to me that, greasing the palms of the nurses would speed attention.
My sister got ill; the great doctors at Mbuya Dorcas Hospital would not attend to her until a sum of US$2 500 was produced at short notice. The treatment was excellent, but without the US dollars, the stroke would have taken her to the ancestors.
The doctors have thrown their Hippocratic oaths to the wind; survival instinct seems to overshadow all morality.
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A Zimbabwean who fails to look the other way in the face of corruption, has a simple choice, leave the country or die of hunger.
I listened to a presentation sponsored by Brother Trevor Ncube on mono-currency 2030. The introductory speaker was the renowned Jesimen Chipika, deputy governor at the Reserve Bank, and a woman mentioned in Women of Substance (Afro-media 2025).
Zimbabwe is a bi-focal trajectory, first the Zanu PF extension of its rule nick-named Project 2030. The second trajectory is towards monetary sovereignty by moving towards a mono-currency by 2030 (the ZIG currency).
Chipika is an excellent speaker and almost convinced the audience that the monetary requirements towards that goal are achievable. Of the eight, she mentioned, the most important ones refer to an increasing confidence in, and stability of the ZIG currency as is, achieving a 40% usage.
That is impressive.
Even more impressive is the increasing accumulation of gold reserves, in support of foreign exchange requirements, which now exceed US$1 billion.
That is very impressive.
Other impressive statistics, not mentioned here, are that Zimbabwe has been mentioned by seven global organisations as the number one tourist destination in Africa.
Gold mining revenues have risen by 33 percent over the last year, ahead of the rising prices, now tipping the US$4 000 per ounce.
WOW.
Zimbabwe is on the roll.
Corruption.
While Chipika’s presentation on the monetary role played by the Reserve Bank was impressive, and the learned professor Gift Mugano gave her credit, the fly in the ointment lay in the fiscal side of government.
Brother Mugano placed emphasis on the pervasive nature of corruption in the Zimbabwe economy. To blacken the overall picture even more was the high percentage of the informal economy.
Monetary policy alone, without fiscal support in the wake of informalisation makes it impossible to assess the true performance of the economy.
It is odd that daily activities such as purchasing petrol and paying travel toll fees, are denominated in USD yet banks do not sell US dollars the public.
Citizens, including uniformed police, get US dollar requirements from “Vakomana” (illegal foreign exchange dealers.)
Ken Sharpe pointed out that the property-based equities run into US$100 billion and yet banks do not offer mortgages.
As I travelled round the country, I came to realise that Zimbabweans and their government are operating at parallel levels.
In the book, Why Nations Fail, the Nigerian Daron Acemoglu, refers to a condition where citizens operate in a state of separation.
The state no longer supply basic services. Any contact with state apparatus is toxic and to be avoided.
I interviewed businessman Struck Chimombe (44) at Nemanwa growth point, in Chief Mugabe paramountcy. Of the 50 businessmen I interviewed, Chimombe was the coolest cat in Masvingo.
He understood perfectly the nature of two parallel economies, the formal and the informal. He and his mother work in both; the shadow economy which requires minimum contact with what Acemoglu calls the “authorities.”
By registering, he exposes himself to Damocles’ spear, the 51 taxes levied by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube.
The two economies are in a state of tug-war. The Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce Report (August 2025) says of the 514 companies surveyed, 44% experienced shrinking margins.
The remainder increased their activities by a mere 2.4% over last year. Contact with authorities must be avoided at all costs as it increases chances of going under.
The juicy part is that physical appearances (of informality) must be maintained at all costs.
Formalisation brings 51 tax obligations; like plastic bag tax, presumptive tax (whatever that is) rental income tax, rental development levy, residents tax on interest, sugar tax, tax on certain fast foods, tax on gross income (different from income tax) tax on specific services, wealth tax, with-holding tax, HIV-Aids levy, etc.
Mugano already knows the risks of formalisation. Prosperity, unless associated with politics, attracts Zimra.
Police seem to have withdrawn from the public, so much so that businessmen supply their own security.
A businessman was advised by police to keep a reasonable amount of money, just in case robbers invade his premises. An empty cash box can drive robbers “nuts.”
“We are not trying to be funny. We are trying to save lives.” A policeman advised
*Ken Mufuka is a Zimbabwean patriot. He writes from the US.
