Opinion / Columnist
There were no Zvigananda under Smith because Rhodesians loved Zimbabwe more than ZANU-PF!
27 May 2025 at 20:45hrs | Views
There is something tragically ironic about the state Zimbabwe finds itself in today.
A country that was once described by none other than former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere as the "jewel of Africa" in 1980, upon attaining independence, has now become a pitiful shadow of its former self.
The reason is clear: the culture of entitlement, patronage, and plunder by those with close ties to the ruling elite - what Zimbabweans now commonly call Zvigananda.
This culture has not only corroded the moral fabric of our society but has precipitated the collapse of our economy, infrastructure, social services, and the daily lives of ordinary citizens.
Today's Zimbabwe is a playground for connected elites who have, under the guise of patriotism, turned public resources into personal piggybanks.
Figures such as Wicknell Chivayo and Kuda Tagwirei have come to personify this culture.
- If you believe in Tendai Ruben Mbofana's fight for justice in Zimbabwe, please consider supporting his work financially. Every contribution helps him keep going, independently and fearlessly.
They are not successful entrepreneurs by any legitimate measure.
Rather, they are by-products of a corrupt political system that rewards proximity to power with unchecked access to public wealth.
Without their links to ZANU-PF, these men would be nobodies - literally overnight.
Their "business empires," if they can be called that, are neither innovative nor self-sustaining.
Most produce nothing, sell nothing of value to the market, and employ few people.
And yet, they flaunt obscene wealth in the form of luxury vehicles, mansions, and cash giveaways on social media - none of it justified by any real business activity.
Take Wicknell Chivayo, for instance.
He rose to prominence after securing multi-million-dollar government contracts, including a $5 million advance payment for a $173 million solar power deal in 2015, despite lacking the capacity or track record to deliver.
Years later, no solar plant exists, but Chivayo continues to parade himself as a philanthropist and patriotic businessman, handing out cars to musicians and ZANU-PF loyalists, all while Zimbabweans languish in 16-hour power cuts.
The depth of Chivayo's entanglement in state corruption was further exposed during the 2023 general elections.
Investigations by South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) revealed that the Zimbabwean Ministry of Finance paid over R1.1 billion (approximately US$61 million) to South African company Ren-Form CC for the supply of election materials to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
The procurement process was riddled with gross overpricing.
Of this amount, more than R800 million was suspiciously funneled into accounts belonging to Chivayo's companies, including Intratrek Holdings and Dolintel Trading Enterprise .
Then there's Kuda Tagwirei who is widely known for his central role in the controversial Command Agriculture program, where over US$3 billion in public funds were disbursed with little accountability.
His company, Sakunda Holdings, received more than US$1.28 billion in cash and Treasury Bills to supply agricultural inputs but failed to deliver meaningful results.
Reports from the Auditor General and parliamentary inquiries exposed rampant mismanagement, overpricing, and lack of transparency.
Beyond agriculture, Tagwirei has expanded his influence by acquiring major state-linked assets under opaque circumstances, including the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) and the National Oil Infrastructure Company (NOIC), with allegations of asset stripping and failure to revive these critical industries.
Tagwirei's reach extends deeply into Zimbabwe's financial sector through control of CBZ Holdings and ZB Financial Holdings, two of the country's largest banks.
These acquisitions, made through front companies, raised serious concerns about transparency and concentration of financial power in the hands of a politically connected elite.
This consolidation gives him access to critical financial infrastructure and government funds, further entrenching state capture.
Shielded by the political establishment, Tagwirei's rise exemplifies how proximity to power enables the looting of public resources, undermining economic development and deepening Zimbabwe's crisis.
All this would be laughable if it weren't so devastating.
These men represent a broader culture where patriotism has been hollowed out and replaced with predatory extraction.
The state no longer exists to serve the people but to enrich a clique of individuals whose loyalty lies not with the nation, but with the party and its internal patronage networks.
The result is a broken healthcare system, collapsed infrastructure, a non-functioning currency, mass unemployment, and the near-total destruction of industry.
The tragedy is not just in the theft itself, but in the opportunity cost - in what could have been.
Contrast this with Rhodesia under Ian Smith.
While Smith's regime was unquestionably racist, exclusionary, and unjust to the black majority, its business environment was one in which serious entrepreneurship and patriotic economic stewardship were evident.
Businessmen like Tiny Rowland, who took over the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company (Lonrho) in 1961, built vast, diversified empires that thrived even under intense global pressure.
Under his leadership, Lonrho became one of the largest conglomerates in Africa, despite the economic hardships brought on by United Nations sanctions following Rhodesia's 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI).
Rowland's Lonrho invested heavily in key sectors: mining operations such as Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC) and Rio Tinto Zimbabwe, large-scale commercial agriculture, vehicle assembly through partnerships like British Motor Corporation, and manufacturing.
Even as Rhodesia faced international isolation, these enterprises formed the industrial backbone of the economy and sustained thousands of jobs.
Rowland's reach extended far beyond Rhodesia - at its peak, Lonrho controlled over 600 companies in more than 80 countries, including The Observer newspaper in the UK and Ashanti Goldfields in Ghana.
His Rhodesian ventures, though rooted in colonial economic interests, contributed significantly to the development of infrastructure and industrial capacity that still underpins sectors of the economy today.
Unlike many of today's politically connected elites, Rowland built real businesses grounded in capital investment, technical expertise, and enterprise - not state patronage or public looting.
Thomas Meikle, for his part, was a pioneer of settler entrepreneurship.
After arriving in Southern Rhodesia in the late 19th century, he founded the Meikles brand, starting with a trading store in Fort Victoria (now Masvingo) in 1892.
Together with his brothers, he expanded into a nationwide chain of department stores and, by 1915, had established the prestigious Meikles Hotel in Salisbury (now Harare), which remains a landmark in Zimbabwe's hospitality sector.
Over the decades, the Meikles Group evolved to include TM Supermarkets, Tanganda Tea Company, and interests in the Victoria Falls Hotel - employing thousands and becoming a respected name in both retail and tourism.
These were businessmen who succeeded not by raiding public coffers or flaunting ill-gotten wealth on social media, but through strategic foresight, reinvestment, and a deep commitment to building enduring institutions.
Operating in an environment where government bailouts were unheard of, their success hinged on competence, resilience, and innovation.
The legacies they left - Meikles Hotel, Tanganda Tea, Bindura Nickel - remain visible pillars of Zimbabwe's economy, in stark contrast to the ostentatious but hollow empires of today's politically connected "businessmen."
They did not thrive on dubious state tenders, nor did they drain public coffers to buy Ferraris and Rolls-Royces.
Their enterprises were visible, employed thousands, paid taxes, and contributed meaningfully to national development.
These were real businessmen, not social media charlatans posing with cash.
Even under crushing sanctions, Rhodesians built roads, railways, schools, and hospitals.
The manufacturing sector was robust, the agricultural sector was exporting, and basic services worked.
Water came out of taps. Electricity flowed consistently.
The Rhodesians may not have loved black Zimbabweans - but they certainly loved the country.
Their goal was to build a land they could live in, invest in, and pass down to their descendants.
In doing so, they inadvertently created an economic structure that was ripe for further development had it been handled wisely after 1980.
Instead, what we have seen since then is a systematic unravelling of that legacy.
The so-called liberators have destroyed what they inherited.
They have done so not in ignorance, but in greed.
Zimbabwe did not need to be perfect after independence - it just needed leaders and businessmen who were genuinely committed to building a nation.
What we got instead was a looting class dressed in liberation credentials, preaching Pan-Africanism by day and siphoning public funds by night.
They have normalized a culture where wealth without effort is celebrated, where corruption is rewarded, and where public service is just another route to personal enrichment.
The Zvigananda culture is not just economically ruinous - it is morally corrosive.
It teaches young Zimbabweans that success is not earned through discipline or ingenuity, but through political bootlicking and looting state resources.
It is thus not far-fetched to argue that Rhodesians, in all their moral failings, loved Zimbabwe more than ZANU-PF ever has.
They built where ZANU-PF has destroyed.
They sacrificed where ZANU-PF consumes.
They planned for the future, while ZANU-PF raids it.
The tragedy of our time is not just that we are poorer, but that we are poorer under people who claim to have liberated us.
Rhodesia was a crime of exclusion; Zimbabwe under ZANU-PF is a crime of betrayal.
Until we end the culture of Zvigananda, Zimbabwe will never reclaim its lost promise.
True patriotism is not about slogans or liberation war songs - it is about building and preserving the nation. It is about public service, not personal enrichment.
And it is about remembering that leadership, whether political or economic, is a trust - not a treasure chest.
© 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/
A country that was once described by none other than former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere as the "jewel of Africa" in 1980, upon attaining independence, has now become a pitiful shadow of its former self.
The reason is clear: the culture of entitlement, patronage, and plunder by those with close ties to the ruling elite - what Zimbabweans now commonly call Zvigananda.
This culture has not only corroded the moral fabric of our society but has precipitated the collapse of our economy, infrastructure, social services, and the daily lives of ordinary citizens.
Today's Zimbabwe is a playground for connected elites who have, under the guise of patriotism, turned public resources into personal piggybanks.
Figures such as Wicknell Chivayo and Kuda Tagwirei have come to personify this culture.
- If you believe in Tendai Ruben Mbofana's fight for justice in Zimbabwe, please consider supporting his work financially. Every contribution helps him keep going, independently and fearlessly.
They are not successful entrepreneurs by any legitimate measure.
Rather, they are by-products of a corrupt political system that rewards proximity to power with unchecked access to public wealth.
Without their links to ZANU-PF, these men would be nobodies - literally overnight.
Their "business empires," if they can be called that, are neither innovative nor self-sustaining.
Most produce nothing, sell nothing of value to the market, and employ few people.
And yet, they flaunt obscene wealth in the form of luxury vehicles, mansions, and cash giveaways on social media - none of it justified by any real business activity.
Take Wicknell Chivayo, for instance.
He rose to prominence after securing multi-million-dollar government contracts, including a $5 million advance payment for a $173 million solar power deal in 2015, despite lacking the capacity or track record to deliver.
Years later, no solar plant exists, but Chivayo continues to parade himself as a philanthropist and patriotic businessman, handing out cars to musicians and ZANU-PF loyalists, all while Zimbabweans languish in 16-hour power cuts.
The depth of Chivayo's entanglement in state corruption was further exposed during the 2023 general elections.
Investigations by South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) revealed that the Zimbabwean Ministry of Finance paid over R1.1 billion (approximately US$61 million) to South African company Ren-Form CC for the supply of election materials to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
The procurement process was riddled with gross overpricing.
Of this amount, more than R800 million was suspiciously funneled into accounts belonging to Chivayo's companies, including Intratrek Holdings and Dolintel Trading Enterprise .
Then there's Kuda Tagwirei who is widely known for his central role in the controversial Command Agriculture program, where over US$3 billion in public funds were disbursed with little accountability.
His company, Sakunda Holdings, received more than US$1.28 billion in cash and Treasury Bills to supply agricultural inputs but failed to deliver meaningful results.
Reports from the Auditor General and parliamentary inquiries exposed rampant mismanagement, overpricing, and lack of transparency.
Beyond agriculture, Tagwirei has expanded his influence by acquiring major state-linked assets under opaque circumstances, including the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) and the National Oil Infrastructure Company (NOIC), with allegations of asset stripping and failure to revive these critical industries.
Tagwirei's reach extends deeply into Zimbabwe's financial sector through control of CBZ Holdings and ZB Financial Holdings, two of the country's largest banks.
These acquisitions, made through front companies, raised serious concerns about transparency and concentration of financial power in the hands of a politically connected elite.
This consolidation gives him access to critical financial infrastructure and government funds, further entrenching state capture.
Shielded by the political establishment, Tagwirei's rise exemplifies how proximity to power enables the looting of public resources, undermining economic development and deepening Zimbabwe's crisis.
All this would be laughable if it weren't so devastating.
These men represent a broader culture where patriotism has been hollowed out and replaced with predatory extraction.
The state no longer exists to serve the people but to enrich a clique of individuals whose loyalty lies not with the nation, but with the party and its internal patronage networks.
The result is a broken healthcare system, collapsed infrastructure, a non-functioning currency, mass unemployment, and the near-total destruction of industry.
The tragedy is not just in the theft itself, but in the opportunity cost - in what could have been.
Contrast this with Rhodesia under Ian Smith.
While Smith's regime was unquestionably racist, exclusionary, and unjust to the black majority, its business environment was one in which serious entrepreneurship and patriotic economic stewardship were evident.
Businessmen like Tiny Rowland, who took over the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company (Lonrho) in 1961, built vast, diversified empires that thrived even under intense global pressure.
Under his leadership, Lonrho became one of the largest conglomerates in Africa, despite the economic hardships brought on by United Nations sanctions following Rhodesia's 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI).
Rowland's Lonrho invested heavily in key sectors: mining operations such as Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC) and Rio Tinto Zimbabwe, large-scale commercial agriculture, vehicle assembly through partnerships like British Motor Corporation, and manufacturing.
Rowland's reach extended far beyond Rhodesia - at its peak, Lonrho controlled over 600 companies in more than 80 countries, including The Observer newspaper in the UK and Ashanti Goldfields in Ghana.
His Rhodesian ventures, though rooted in colonial economic interests, contributed significantly to the development of infrastructure and industrial capacity that still underpins sectors of the economy today.
Unlike many of today's politically connected elites, Rowland built real businesses grounded in capital investment, technical expertise, and enterprise - not state patronage or public looting.
Thomas Meikle, for his part, was a pioneer of settler entrepreneurship.
After arriving in Southern Rhodesia in the late 19th century, he founded the Meikles brand, starting with a trading store in Fort Victoria (now Masvingo) in 1892.
Together with his brothers, he expanded into a nationwide chain of department stores and, by 1915, had established the prestigious Meikles Hotel in Salisbury (now Harare), which remains a landmark in Zimbabwe's hospitality sector.
Over the decades, the Meikles Group evolved to include TM Supermarkets, Tanganda Tea Company, and interests in the Victoria Falls Hotel - employing thousands and becoming a respected name in both retail and tourism.
These were businessmen who succeeded not by raiding public coffers or flaunting ill-gotten wealth on social media, but through strategic foresight, reinvestment, and a deep commitment to building enduring institutions.
Operating in an environment where government bailouts were unheard of, their success hinged on competence, resilience, and innovation.
The legacies they left - Meikles Hotel, Tanganda Tea, Bindura Nickel - remain visible pillars of Zimbabwe's economy, in stark contrast to the ostentatious but hollow empires of today's politically connected "businessmen."
They did not thrive on dubious state tenders, nor did they drain public coffers to buy Ferraris and Rolls-Royces.
Their enterprises were visible, employed thousands, paid taxes, and contributed meaningfully to national development.
These were real businessmen, not social media charlatans posing with cash.
Even under crushing sanctions, Rhodesians built roads, railways, schools, and hospitals.
The manufacturing sector was robust, the agricultural sector was exporting, and basic services worked.
Water came out of taps. Electricity flowed consistently.
The Rhodesians may not have loved black Zimbabweans - but they certainly loved the country.
Their goal was to build a land they could live in, invest in, and pass down to their descendants.
In doing so, they inadvertently created an economic structure that was ripe for further development had it been handled wisely after 1980.
Instead, what we have seen since then is a systematic unravelling of that legacy.
The so-called liberators have destroyed what they inherited.
They have done so not in ignorance, but in greed.
Zimbabwe did not need to be perfect after independence - it just needed leaders and businessmen who were genuinely committed to building a nation.
What we got instead was a looting class dressed in liberation credentials, preaching Pan-Africanism by day and siphoning public funds by night.
They have normalized a culture where wealth without effort is celebrated, where corruption is rewarded, and where public service is just another route to personal enrichment.
The Zvigananda culture is not just economically ruinous - it is morally corrosive.
It teaches young Zimbabweans that success is not earned through discipline or ingenuity, but through political bootlicking and looting state resources.
It is thus not far-fetched to argue that Rhodesians, in all their moral failings, loved Zimbabwe more than ZANU-PF ever has.
They built where ZANU-PF has destroyed.
They sacrificed where ZANU-PF consumes.
They planned for the future, while ZANU-PF raids it.
The tragedy of our time is not just that we are poorer, but that we are poorer under people who claim to have liberated us.
Rhodesia was a crime of exclusion; Zimbabwe under ZANU-PF is a crime of betrayal.
Until we end the culture of Zvigananda, Zimbabwe will never reclaim its lost promise.
True patriotism is not about slogans or liberation war songs - it is about building and preserving the nation. It is about public service, not personal enrichment.
And it is about remembering that leadership, whether political or economic, is a trust - not a treasure chest.
© 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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