Zimbabweans are languishing in poverty because of corruption, not a five-year presidential term

If a robber claims the longer he stays, the wealthier you'll get, there's a huge problem.

When a robber tells you that the longer he stays in your house, the more property you'll actually have, then there is definitely a huge problem. 

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The formal tabling of the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 before Parliament yesterday marks a dark turning point in Zimbabwe's democratic journey - or what remains of it. 

By initiating a process to extend the presidential term from five to seven years and, perhaps more sinisterly, removing the right of citizens to directly elect their leader in favour of selection by Parliament, the authorities have sent a clear message: the survival of the elite is more important than the survival of the nation. 

We are told this is about "continuity" and giving the President enough time to "finish his program." 

Let us be blunt: this is a transparent, desperate facade designed to mask an abysmal and unmitigated failure of governance. 

The suggestion that Zimbabweans are suffering because a five-year term is "too short" is not just a political lie; it is an insult to the millions of citizens currently drowning in a sea of poverty and deprivation.

The reality on the ground in Zimbabwe has absolutely nothing to do with the duration of a presidential term and everything to do with a systemic, state-sponsored culture of plunder. 

Today, nearly 80% of our population languishes in poverty, with a staggering 50% trapped in the soul-crushing depths of extreme poverty. 

These are not just statistics; they are human beings - mothers who cannot afford to feed their children, fathers who have forgotten what it feels like to provide, and a youth population whose only dream is to escape across the Limpopo or to any corner of the globe that will take them. 

Thousands of Zimbabweans are losing their lives in our public hospitals every year. 

They are not dying because the President wasn't given seven years; they are dying because our theatres lack basic sutures, our pharmacies are empty of essential drugs, and our medical staff are demoralised and underpaid. 

They are dying because the money meant for healthcare is being diverted to fund the lavish lifestyles of a well-connected few.

Look at our education system, once the pride of the continent. 

It has been systematically decimated. 

Rural schools are largely incapacitated, standing as hollow shells where children sit on cold floors in classrooms that lack books, science equipment, and even basic stationery. 

Our children's future is being stolen in real-time. 

This isn't happening because the President is directly elected by the people. 

It is happening because the economy cannot sustain decent employment or provide a future for the next generation. 

The "finish the program" excuse is a tired trope used by those who have failed to deliver and now seek more time to continue the same path of destruction.

We must hold a mirror to the claim that more time is needed. 

Under our current Constitution, a performing president is already entitled to ten years, two terms of five years each. 

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, having been "voted" into a second term in 2023, is already on track to serve a decade. 

But let us look at the math more closely. 

He ascended to power following the military coup d'état in November 2017. 

By the time he is scheduled to step down in 2028, he will have been in power for nearly eleven years. 

That is already one year more than the constitutional limit for two terms. 

If a leader cannot significantly develop a country and lift the majority of its citizens out of poverty in eleven years, what miracle does he expect to perform in thirteen? 

If the foundation hasn't been laid in a decade, two more years will only serve to deepen the cracks. 

To expect a sudden windfall of prosperity between 2028 and 2030 is not just optimistic; it is foolhardy.  

Let's look at the reality on the ground. 

Whether we look at 2028 or 2030, there are already only a few years to go – two years and four years, respectively. 

We then have to look at where Zimbabwe is right now and where we have come from.

The only statistics that mean anything to the ordinary citizenry are the poverty levels.

The numbers provided by the World Bank paint a chilling picture of the "Mnangagwa era." 

Since 2017, when the promise of a "New Dispensation" was dangled before us, poverty levels have actually increased. 

In 2017, extreme poverty—those living on less than $2.15 a day—stood at 34.2%. 

By 2025, that figure skyrocketed to 42%. 

Those living in general poverty (less than $3.65 a day) rose from 61.6% to 64.5%. 

If we look at the upper middle-income poverty level of $6.85 per day, the number grew from 83% to 85% of the population. 

Even more heartbreaking is the rise in food poverty, jumping from 30% in 2017 to 38% today. 

These figures represent a categorical regression. 

Ordinary Zimbabweans have consistently become poorer under this administration. 

So, I ask again: what makes anyone believe our livelihoods will suddenly improve by 2030 when the past nine years have been a steady march toward destitution?

The administration may point to glowing GDP figures and claim Zimbabwe is the "fastest growing economy in the region." 

But as long as that growth only lines the pockets of those at the apex of power, leaving the masses to scavenge for crumbs, these numbers are hollow. 

In truth, Zimbabwe likely has the fastest-growing poverty in the region. 

The disconnect between "macroeconomic stability" and the empty pots in the kitchens of Mbare, Makokoba, and Sakubva is a chasm that no amount of state propaganda can bridge. 

The real reason we are becoming poorer while the economy supposedly "grows" is no secret: it is the rampant, unchecked corruption and the looting of our national resources by a handful of elites.

Transparency International's data confirms this rot. 

In 2025, Zimbabwe scored a pathetic 22 out of 100 on the Corruption Perception Index, ranking 157th out of 182 countries. 

This score is exactly the same as it was in 2017. 

This tells us everything we need to know. 

The "New Dispensation" has done absolutely nothing to fight high-level corruption. 

The only thing that changed was the faces of the looters. 

The grand heist of our minerals, our land, and our taxes is now conducted with a brazenness that borders on the obscene. 

Corruption has become fashionable. 

Those involved in stripping the country of its wealth are not prosecuted; they are celebrated as "successful businessmen" and "philanthropists." 

They are promoted into the highest echelons of ZANU-PF's power structures, shielded from accountability by the very system they are cannibalising.  

This is why they want to amend the Constitution. 

It is not about development; it is about protection. 

By extending terms and removing the direct vote, the elite are building a fortress to ensure they can continue to loot without the "inconvenience" of being held accountable by the citizens. 

These amendments are a death warrant for the Zimbabwean dream. 

They will ensure that our loved ones continue to die in dilapidated hospitals, that our children continue to receive a substandard education, and that the average citizen continues to struggle just to put a single meal on the table.

We must call this what it is: a total disaster. 

The only beneficiaries of the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 are those who view the national treasury as their personal bank account. 

As a nation, we cannot afford to be silent while our fundamental rights are traded for the comfort of a ruling clique. 

If eleven years of power have only brought more poverty and more corruption, then more time is not the solution - it is the threat. 

Zimbabwe does not need longer presidential terms; it needs leadership with the integrity to stop the stealing and the compassion to prioritise the people over the party.

©Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. To directly receive his articles please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08