Opinion / Columnist
ZANU-PF's own conference resolutions tell a story of a party that doesn't care about the people
07 May 2025 at 19:47hrs | Views
Talk about upside-down priorities!
I recently went through the list of resolutions adopted at the 2024 ZANU-PF Annual People's Conference - and what I found was both predictable and disturbing.
Predictable, because over the years, the ruling party has consistently placed the interests of its leaders above the pressing needs of the people.
Disturbing, because these resolutions have made it even more apparent that national development and public welfare are nothing but an afterthought for the ruling elite.
Of all the challenges currently afflicting Zimbabwe - from a collapsing public healthcare system, to the worst power shortages in decades, to horrifying levels of corruption - it is incredibly telling that ZANU-PF's top priority, their so-called "Resolution Number One," was none of these.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
Instead, the primary resolution was to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa's term beyond the constitutionally mandated two five-year term limit, which is set to expire in 2028.
That decision alone says everything about where the party's focus lies: not on the people, but on the retention of power.
What does it mean when a party, entrusted with national leadership, places the career ambitions of one man ahead of the desperate state of our hospitals, schools, roads, and economy?
It signals that our suffering is not a concern to those in power.
If they genuinely cared, the number one resolution of the conference would have been the resuscitation of our crumbling public health sector - a crisis that continues to claim countless innocent lives.
And the statistics are there for all to see.
Health-related resolutions at the conference were buried far down the list - numbers 58, 59, 68, 74, and 77.
This is at a time when government hospitals have virtually become death traps.
Painkillers are unavailable. Basic equipment like dialysis and cancer machines are nonexistent or constantly broken.
Patients at times sleep on threadbare beds or on the floor, and are asked to buy everything, from gloves to syringes, and have to pay private players for scans and lab tests.
Ambulances are few and often grounded.
And yet, for ZANU-PF, this is a matter not worth prioritizing.
What does that tell us?
Imagine where our healthcare would be today if health delivery had been Resolution Number One.
Imagine if, every time government ministers addressed the nation, they rallied around the need to rebuild our public hospitals, stock pharmacies, pay nurses and doctors decent wages, and restore dignity to the sick and the dying.
But no, this isn't where their passion lies.
The attention is laser-focused on keeping Mnangagwa in power.
Similarly, the issue of electricity was relegated to Resolution Number 90. And yet we live in a country where 18-hour power cuts are still common.
Whole industries are being strangled. Small businesses have shut down because they cannot afford expensive fuel for generators.
Children are failing to study at night. Hospital equipment lies idle for lack of power.
What country develops under such conditions?
And what leadership remains so unbothered that they place this crisis nearly at the bottom of their to-do list?
The state of our roads is no better.
Most were constructed during colonial rule and have since been neglected into ruin.
Driving across Zimbabwe today is a nightmare of potholes, collapsed bridges, and war-zone-like highways.
Yet road rehabilitation is Resolution Number 89.
Civil servants - teachers, nurses, police officers - who keep this country running, have been reduced to paupers.
Their salaries cannot sustain their families. Their working conditions are a disgrace.
But their concerns, too, are dumped at Resolution 53.
And then there is public transport.
The government has failed to provide an efficient, affordable, and reliable transport system in our cities.
Commuters are stranded daily. Many spend hours trying to get to and from work.
But the issue of transport - an essential element in any modern economy - is way down at Resolution 70.
If you think the placement of these resolutions doesn't matter, think again.
Their position on the list directly reflects the level of importance ZANU-PF assigns to each issue.
That is why since the conclusion of the conference, Resolution Number One has taken center stage.
Every party rally, every ministerial address, every community meeting revolves around it.
There is a calculated attempt to drum this resolution into the national consciousness.
That is no coincidence.
Power retention is the primary goal.
The suffering of millions is a minor inconvenience.
We must also interrogate how the government is handling the issue of corruption.
With the billions of dollars lost annually to looting, one would expect corruption to be named as the biggest threat to Zimbabwe's progress.
Yet, in the resolutions, it appears only at Number 21. And even then, it is treated with shocking indifference.
All the party had to say was: "implement robust zero tolerance legal framework against corruption."
That's it! No mention of holding anyone accountable. No action plan. No sense of urgency.
And this, in a country where scandals are not just whispered rumors but confirmed atrocities.
Take for example the recent revelations from South Africa about the transfer of R1.1 billion from Zimbabwe to South Africa's Ren-Form CC, with R800 million allegedly ending up in businesses linked to convicted tenderpreneur Wicknell Chivayo.
Instead of calling for investigations or accountability, ZANU-PF continues to embrace Chivayo as a hero.
So we ask: is the party even bothered? Or do they turn a blind eye because the looters are part of their own elite circle?
Zimbabwe has been destroyed not by natural disasters or foreign enemies, but by its own leadership.
When a ruling party like ZANU-PF openly prioritizes a president's continued rule above the people's survival, what hope is left?
We are living in a country where loyalty to the leader matters more than service to the people.
Where slogans and propaganda are more important than clean water, medicine, electricity, and safe roads.
The 2024 resolutions tell a complete story.
A story of a political elite that is completely disconnected from the suffering of its citizens.
It is up to ordinary Zimbabweans to read between the lines and understand what these resolutions really mean.
They are not just words on paper.
They are a declaration of priorities - and those priorities do not include you and me.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
I recently went through the list of resolutions adopted at the 2024 ZANU-PF Annual People's Conference - and what I found was both predictable and disturbing.
Predictable, because over the years, the ruling party has consistently placed the interests of its leaders above the pressing needs of the people.
Disturbing, because these resolutions have made it even more apparent that national development and public welfare are nothing but an afterthought for the ruling elite.
Of all the challenges currently afflicting Zimbabwe - from a collapsing public healthcare system, to the worst power shortages in decades, to horrifying levels of corruption - it is incredibly telling that ZANU-PF's top priority, their so-called "Resolution Number One," was none of these.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
Instead, the primary resolution was to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa's term beyond the constitutionally mandated two five-year term limit, which is set to expire in 2028.
That decision alone says everything about where the party's focus lies: not on the people, but on the retention of power.
What does it mean when a party, entrusted with national leadership, places the career ambitions of one man ahead of the desperate state of our hospitals, schools, roads, and economy?
It signals that our suffering is not a concern to those in power.
If they genuinely cared, the number one resolution of the conference would have been the resuscitation of our crumbling public health sector - a crisis that continues to claim countless innocent lives.
And the statistics are there for all to see.
Health-related resolutions at the conference were buried far down the list - numbers 58, 59, 68, 74, and 77.
This is at a time when government hospitals have virtually become death traps.
Painkillers are unavailable. Basic equipment like dialysis and cancer machines are nonexistent or constantly broken.
Patients at times sleep on threadbare beds or on the floor, and are asked to buy everything, from gloves to syringes, and have to pay private players for scans and lab tests.
Ambulances are few and often grounded.
And yet, for ZANU-PF, this is a matter not worth prioritizing.
What does that tell us?
Imagine where our healthcare would be today if health delivery had been Resolution Number One.
Imagine if, every time government ministers addressed the nation, they rallied around the need to rebuild our public hospitals, stock pharmacies, pay nurses and doctors decent wages, and restore dignity to the sick and the dying.
But no, this isn't where their passion lies.
The attention is laser-focused on keeping Mnangagwa in power.
Similarly, the issue of electricity was relegated to Resolution Number 90. And yet we live in a country where 18-hour power cuts are still common.
Whole industries are being strangled. Small businesses have shut down because they cannot afford expensive fuel for generators.
Children are failing to study at night. Hospital equipment lies idle for lack of power.
What country develops under such conditions?
And what leadership remains so unbothered that they place this crisis nearly at the bottom of their to-do list?
The state of our roads is no better.
Most were constructed during colonial rule and have since been neglected into ruin.
Driving across Zimbabwe today is a nightmare of potholes, collapsed bridges, and war-zone-like highways.
Yet road rehabilitation is Resolution Number 89.
Civil servants - teachers, nurses, police officers - who keep this country running, have been reduced to paupers.
But their concerns, too, are dumped at Resolution 53.
And then there is public transport.
The government has failed to provide an efficient, affordable, and reliable transport system in our cities.
Commuters are stranded daily. Many spend hours trying to get to and from work.
But the issue of transport - an essential element in any modern economy - is way down at Resolution 70.
If you think the placement of these resolutions doesn't matter, think again.
Their position on the list directly reflects the level of importance ZANU-PF assigns to each issue.
That is why since the conclusion of the conference, Resolution Number One has taken center stage.
Every party rally, every ministerial address, every community meeting revolves around it.
There is a calculated attempt to drum this resolution into the national consciousness.
That is no coincidence.
Power retention is the primary goal.
The suffering of millions is a minor inconvenience.
We must also interrogate how the government is handling the issue of corruption.
With the billions of dollars lost annually to looting, one would expect corruption to be named as the biggest threat to Zimbabwe's progress.
Yet, in the resolutions, it appears only at Number 21. And even then, it is treated with shocking indifference.
All the party had to say was: "implement robust zero tolerance legal framework against corruption."
That's it! No mention of holding anyone accountable. No action plan. No sense of urgency.
And this, in a country where scandals are not just whispered rumors but confirmed atrocities.
Take for example the recent revelations from South Africa about the transfer of R1.1 billion from Zimbabwe to South Africa's Ren-Form CC, with R800 million allegedly ending up in businesses linked to convicted tenderpreneur Wicknell Chivayo.
Instead of calling for investigations or accountability, ZANU-PF continues to embrace Chivayo as a hero.
So we ask: is the party even bothered? Or do they turn a blind eye because the looters are part of their own elite circle?
Zimbabwe has been destroyed not by natural disasters or foreign enemies, but by its own leadership.
When a ruling party like ZANU-PF openly prioritizes a president's continued rule above the people's survival, what hope is left?
We are living in a country where loyalty to the leader matters more than service to the people.
Where slogans and propaganda are more important than clean water, medicine, electricity, and safe roads.
The 2024 resolutions tell a complete story.
A story of a political elite that is completely disconnected from the suffering of its citizens.
It is up to ordinary Zimbabweans to read between the lines and understand what these resolutions really mean.
They are not just words on paper.
They are a declaration of priorities - and those priorities do not include you and me.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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