Opinion / Columnist
Chivayo's arrogance is an insult to millions of suffering Zimbabweans
3 hrs ago | Views
There's a saying: "A soft answer turneth away wrath" - but what happens when arrogance and contempt are the response to a nation's cry for accountability?
There is something profoundly disturbing about the attitude displayed by controversial tenderpreneur Wicknell Chivayo in his recent public response to reports linking him to a murky US$439 million deal to supply cancer treatment equipment to Zimbabwe - allegedly without following due tender procedures.
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In a brazen show of arrogance, Chivayo chose to brush off the legitimate outrage of the Zimbabwean people as the noise of "a group of opposition outfits desperate for political relevance."
Such a response is not only a slap in the face of those raising valid concerns about the mismanagement of public funds, but also a cruel insult to millions of long-suffering Zimbabweans.
It is this very arrogance - by individuals closely aligned with the ruling elite - that has become the defining feature of state capture and grand corruption in our country.
The level of contempt displayed toward the suffering masses, many of whom die daily due to an underfunded and crumbling health system, is both unforgivable and inexcusable.
While it is true that opposition figures like Advocate Fadzayi Mahere and Jealousy Mawarire have taken to social media to demand answers, the outrage is far wider and deeper than any political faction.
The truth is that countless ordinary Zimbabweans - those who wake up every day in a country where 80% of the 15 million population (i.e., 12 million people) live in poverty - are asking the same difficult questions.
Are these citizens, who want only dignity and survival, also to be dismissed as opposition agents?
Does Chivayo genuinely believe that questioning the opaque awarding of billion-dollar tenders automatically makes one an enemy of the state?
Zimbabweans are angry - and rightly so.
They are tired of seeing their futures mortgaged for the benefit of a privileged few.
They are tired of watching politically connected individuals amass obscene wealth almost overnight, while the rest of the population scrounges for food, medicine, and basic necessities.
The question that remains unanswered is simple yet urgent: On what basis is someone like Chivayo, with such a controversial track record, being repeatedly associated with multi-million-dollar government contracts?
Even if Chivayo's dismissal of the US$439 million contract as a "fabrication" is to be taken at face value, what explanation does he have for the R800 million (approximately US$42 million) that was inexplicably deposited into his accounts by the South African company Ren-Form CC, which itself received the money from the Zimbabwe Treasury?
Is he asking the people of Zimbabwe - who cannot even afford Panadol in public hospitals - to simply shut up and cheer him on as he gallivants across Paris, posting selfies and flaunting his wealth?
It is obscene that at a time when thousands of cancer patients in Zimbabwe are dying needlessly due to the unavailability of radiotherapy and chemotherapy machines, someone can arrogantly scoff at public concern over how such large sums of money are being handled.
If Chivayo truly believes that Zimbabweans should not be outraged when they learn of massive contracts being awarded under suspicious circumstances, then he has grossly misjudged the pulse of this nation.
In a country where mothers give birth in candlelit maternity wards, where our children sit under trees in schools with no furniture or books, and where universities have become factories of hopelessness due to underfunding, it is not only fair - it is moral and just - for people to demand transparency and accountability.
Are we now supposed to stay silent while this looting spree continues under the guise of Vision 2030?
Let it be said plainly: Chivayo does not get to define who has the right to speak up.
It is not up to him to dismiss every critic as a political opponent.
This is gaslighting of the highest order - a cynical attempt to divert attention from real issues by framing them as partisan attacks.
But this issue transcends political lines.
It is about lives.
It is about justice.
It is about a nation bleeding under the weight of corruption.
To label those speaking out as "opposition outfits" is the highest form of disrespect to the people whose suffering has bankrolled the obscene lifestyles of a connected few.
Many of these people, like myself, are not politicians.
We are simply Zimbabweans who want a better life - not only for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren.
When I speak out, I do so because I have received thousands of messages from Zimbabweans across the country - men, women, and even schoolchildren - who are fed up and disillusioned.
They urge us to keep raising our voices because they themselves are unable to do so, fearing victimization or simply lacking the platforms.
That is why I will not allow Chivayo - or anyone else - to reduce our cries for justice to political noise.
We are not barking.
We are demanding answers, and we do so backed by the lived reality of the majority of Zimbabweans.
And yes, if calling out corruption and demanding fairness makes us part of an "opposition outfit" in Chivayo's eyes, then so be it.
Because at this rate, it is Chivayo himself who is manufacturing the opposition by pushing more and more people into political consciousness through his arrogant dismissal of their pain.
We cannot and must not be gaslighted into silence.
The millions of Zimbabweans who suffer in silence every day are not nameless pawns in a political game.
They are real human beings - deserving of dignity, of healthcare, of education, and of opportunity.
Their outrage is not manufactured.
It is the natural response of a people who have been betrayed too many times by those who claim to lead and serve them.
Wicknell Chivayo must answer the people's questions.
No amount of deflection, no volume of Parisian selfies, and no barrage of insults will erase the deepening anger and hunger for accountability.
This is not about politics.
This is about survival.
And if he cannot see that, then he is even more out of touch with reality than we feared.
------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 website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
There is something profoundly disturbing about the attitude displayed by controversial tenderpreneur Wicknell Chivayo in his recent public response to reports linking him to a murky US$439 million deal to supply cancer treatment equipment to Zimbabwe - allegedly without following due tender procedures.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
In a brazen show of arrogance, Chivayo chose to brush off the legitimate outrage of the Zimbabwean people as the noise of "a group of opposition outfits desperate for political relevance."
Such a response is not only a slap in the face of those raising valid concerns about the mismanagement of public funds, but also a cruel insult to millions of long-suffering Zimbabweans.
It is this very arrogance - by individuals closely aligned with the ruling elite - that has become the defining feature of state capture and grand corruption in our country.
The level of contempt displayed toward the suffering masses, many of whom die daily due to an underfunded and crumbling health system, is both unforgivable and inexcusable.
While it is true that opposition figures like Advocate Fadzayi Mahere and Jealousy Mawarire have taken to social media to demand answers, the outrage is far wider and deeper than any political faction.
The truth is that countless ordinary Zimbabweans - those who wake up every day in a country where 80% of the 15 million population (i.e., 12 million people) live in poverty - are asking the same difficult questions.
Are these citizens, who want only dignity and survival, also to be dismissed as opposition agents?
Does Chivayo genuinely believe that questioning the opaque awarding of billion-dollar tenders automatically makes one an enemy of the state?
Zimbabweans are angry - and rightly so.
They are tired of seeing their futures mortgaged for the benefit of a privileged few.
They are tired of watching politically connected individuals amass obscene wealth almost overnight, while the rest of the population scrounges for food, medicine, and basic necessities.
The question that remains unanswered is simple yet urgent: On what basis is someone like Chivayo, with such a controversial track record, being repeatedly associated with multi-million-dollar government contracts?
Even if Chivayo's dismissal of the US$439 million contract as a "fabrication" is to be taken at face value, what explanation does he have for the R800 million (approximately US$42 million) that was inexplicably deposited into his accounts by the South African company Ren-Form CC, which itself received the money from the Zimbabwe Treasury?
Is he asking the people of Zimbabwe - who cannot even afford Panadol in public hospitals - to simply shut up and cheer him on as he gallivants across Paris, posting selfies and flaunting his wealth?
It is obscene that at a time when thousands of cancer patients in Zimbabwe are dying needlessly due to the unavailability of radiotherapy and chemotherapy machines, someone can arrogantly scoff at public concern over how such large sums of money are being handled.
If Chivayo truly believes that Zimbabweans should not be outraged when they learn of massive contracts being awarded under suspicious circumstances, then he has grossly misjudged the pulse of this nation.
In a country where mothers give birth in candlelit maternity wards, where our children sit under trees in schools with no furniture or books, and where universities have become factories of hopelessness due to underfunding, it is not only fair - it is moral and just - for people to demand transparency and accountability.
Are we now supposed to stay silent while this looting spree continues under the guise of Vision 2030?
Let it be said plainly: Chivayo does not get to define who has the right to speak up.
It is not up to him to dismiss every critic as a political opponent.
This is gaslighting of the highest order - a cynical attempt to divert attention from real issues by framing them as partisan attacks.
It is about lives.
It is about justice.
It is about a nation bleeding under the weight of corruption.
To label those speaking out as "opposition outfits" is the highest form of disrespect to the people whose suffering has bankrolled the obscene lifestyles of a connected few.
Many of these people, like myself, are not politicians.
We are simply Zimbabweans who want a better life - not only for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren.
When I speak out, I do so because I have received thousands of messages from Zimbabweans across the country - men, women, and even schoolchildren - who are fed up and disillusioned.
They urge us to keep raising our voices because they themselves are unable to do so, fearing victimization or simply lacking the platforms.
That is why I will not allow Chivayo - or anyone else - to reduce our cries for justice to political noise.
We are not barking.
We are demanding answers, and we do so backed by the lived reality of the majority of Zimbabweans.
And yes, if calling out corruption and demanding fairness makes us part of an "opposition outfit" in Chivayo's eyes, then so be it.
Because at this rate, it is Chivayo himself who is manufacturing the opposition by pushing more and more people into political consciousness through his arrogant dismissal of their pain.
We cannot and must not be gaslighted into silence.
The millions of Zimbabweans who suffer in silence every day are not nameless pawns in a political game.
They are real human beings - deserving of dignity, of healthcare, of education, and of opportunity.
Their outrage is not manufactured.
It is the natural response of a people who have been betrayed too many times by those who claim to lead and serve them.
Wicknell Chivayo must answer the people's questions.
No amount of deflection, no volume of Parisian selfies, and no barrage of insults will erase the deepening anger and hunger for accountability.
This is not about politics.
This is about survival.
And if he cannot see that, then he is even more out of touch with reality than we feared.
------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 website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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