Opinion / Columnist
There's nothing visionary about a president who only acts after public pressure
7 hrs ago | Views
It is hardly praiseworthy for a father to feed his family only after their cries of hunger grow too loud to ignore.
I was watching a news report on the state broadcaster this evening, and by the time it ended, I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
What I felt bordered on disgust.
The report featured Deputy Minister of Transport Joshua Sacco, who - with a straight face and a smile - praised President Emmerson Mnangagwa for what he described as "visionary leadership" in the rehabilitation of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway.
Sacco boldly claimed this was proof of the president's commitment to "leaving no one and no place behind."
One would think we lived in a different country where everything worked as it should.
But I live in Zimbabwe, and I know better.
That is precisely why I was repulsed.
The deputy minister conveniently left out one fundamental truth: the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway, a critical economic and tourism corridor connecting to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World - Victoria Falls - had already been neglected for years under Mnangagwa's leadership.
That road had become a national embarrassment.
It had been left to rot into a death trap - with gaping potholes large enough to swallow a wheel, forcing buses to come to a complete stop, sometimes spending several minutes inching forward as drivers carefully navigated around the craters to avoid damage or disaster.
International tourists - some of whom posted viral images sitting inside the potholes - openly mocked our infrastructure.
The very people supposed to boost our tourism sector were greeted by scenes more fitting for an abandoned war zone than a country trying to market itself as a safe and attractive destination.
What Sacco didn't mention was that this crisis wasn't new.
The so-called Emergency Road Rehabilitation Program (ERRP), which the Mnangagwa administration launched in 2021, had long ignored the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway - as it has many other roads, particularly in Matabeleland.
The neglect is not an isolated oversight; it is part of a deeply rooted systemic marginalization.
This highway has become a symbol - a brutal metaphor - of the broader disenfranchisement and deliberate underdevelopment of the Matabeleland region by successive ZANU-PF regimes.
For those of us who've travelled across the country, the disparity is painfully clear.
As much as the rest of Zimbabwe is crumbling, Matabeleland is visibly more neglected, more abandoned.
I was recently in Hwange and was shocked to discover that the toll gate along this key national highway is nothing more than a makeshift shed with a gate boom - a laughable imitation of the toll gates found in other parts of the country.
That this is allowed on such a strategic and internationally significant road speaks volumes about where the government's priorities lie - and where they don't.
Even more telling is the vast emptiness that greets travelers along this highway.
From the time one leaves Bulawayo to when one finally reaches Hwange, some 335 kilometers later, there is not a single notable town.
The journey feels like driving across a forsaken and deserted wasteland.
How can anyone, in good conscience, call this "leaving no one behind"?
This is the very definition of abandonment.
It is the legacy of a government that talks a lot but delivers little - and only when forced to do so.
Let us not forget, either, that this is the same region that bore the brunt of a brutal genocide in the 1980s.
Over 20,000 innocent civilians were systematically butchered by the ZANU regime under a campaign known as Gukurahundi - simply because of their supposed Ndebele identity.
This unspeakable atrocity has still not been fully acknowledged, and justice has yet to be served.
So when government officials glibly claim that no one and no place is being left behind, they trample on the lived reality of people in Matabeleland, who continue to suffer from political, economic, and developmental exclusion.
Their cries, their needs, and their memories have long been erased from the official national script.
The only reason this government is now scrambling to fix the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway is not out of care or long-term planning.
It is not out of some sudden awakening to the needs of the people.
It is because of public outrage and international embarrassment.
It took viral photos, social media pressure, and global exposure for the regime to feel compelled to act.
This is reactionary politics - not visionary leadership.
It is government by shame, not government by foresight.
Even then, let us not pretend there are no ulterior motives.
The sudden urgency to fix this road also presents yet another chance for connected elites to feed from the trough.
Already, there have been whispers - and credible reports - of contracts being secretly awarded well before any formal tender process was launched.
In fact, in May this year, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development was caught in a very embarrassing scandal.
The Ministry had to publicly disown a message posted on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on April 29, 2025, which claimed that contractors were already on site.
The tweet, quoting a Herald article published a day before, declared that the work was already underway.
Yet, the Ministry later stated the information had not been verified and was published in breach of internal standard operating procedures.
Really?
We are supposed to believe that a post from the Ministry's official account, referencing the state newspaper, was just a simple administrative error?
This is Zimbabwe.
We've seen these tricks before.
There is no smoke without fire.
The pattern is always the same: a project is announced with great fanfare, contractors linked to the politically connected swoop in, looting begins under the guise of development, and in the end, the ordinary citizen is left with more potholes, more promises, and more debt.
This is why I ask: why should the government congratulate itself for doing work only after being pressured by the public?
Why should we clap hands when something that should have been done years ago is finally addressed - and only because the government was forced to act?
We should not be in the business of celebrating mediocrity.
We should be demanding accountability.
The question we should all be asking is: how did we get here?
Why were our roads allowed to degrade into such a scandalous state in the first place?
Why do many places in Zimbabwe resemble outbacks in some forgotten, god-forsaken land?
Why are new clinics or schools in rural areas being celebrated as historic milestones - when they should have been built decades ago?
Why have people been forced to walk over 15 kilometers to the nearest health centre for the past 45 years?
These are the questions that matter.
These are the conversations we must have.
We must reject empty slogans, forced praise, and disingenuous propaganda.
Until we start holding our leaders accountable for their failures - instead of celebrating their basic obligations - Zimbabwe will remain stuck in a cycle of decline and deceit.
The real "visionary leadership" we need is one that works proactively, sincerely, and transparently - not one that responds only when exposed.
© 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/
I was watching a news report on the state broadcaster this evening, and by the time it ended, I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
What I felt bordered on disgust.
The report featured Deputy Minister of Transport Joshua Sacco, who - with a straight face and a smile - praised President Emmerson Mnangagwa for what he described as "visionary leadership" in the rehabilitation of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway.
Sacco boldly claimed this was proof of the president's commitment to "leaving no one and no place behind."
One would think we lived in a different country where everything worked as it should.
But I live in Zimbabwe, and I know better.
That is precisely why I was repulsed.
The deputy minister conveniently left out one fundamental truth: the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway, a critical economic and tourism corridor connecting to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World - Victoria Falls - had already been neglected for years under Mnangagwa's leadership.
That road had become a national embarrassment.
It had been left to rot into a death trap - with gaping potholes large enough to swallow a wheel, forcing buses to come to a complete stop, sometimes spending several minutes inching forward as drivers carefully navigated around the craters to avoid damage or disaster.
International tourists - some of whom posted viral images sitting inside the potholes - openly mocked our infrastructure.
The very people supposed to boost our tourism sector were greeted by scenes more fitting for an abandoned war zone than a country trying to market itself as a safe and attractive destination.
What Sacco didn't mention was that this crisis wasn't new.
The so-called Emergency Road Rehabilitation Program (ERRP), which the Mnangagwa administration launched in 2021, had long ignored the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway - as it has many other roads, particularly in Matabeleland.
The neglect is not an isolated oversight; it is part of a deeply rooted systemic marginalization.
This highway has become a symbol - a brutal metaphor - of the broader disenfranchisement and deliberate underdevelopment of the Matabeleland region by successive ZANU-PF regimes.
For those of us who've travelled across the country, the disparity is painfully clear.
As much as the rest of Zimbabwe is crumbling, Matabeleland is visibly more neglected, more abandoned.
I was recently in Hwange and was shocked to discover that the toll gate along this key national highway is nothing more than a makeshift shed with a gate boom - a laughable imitation of the toll gates found in other parts of the country.
That this is allowed on such a strategic and internationally significant road speaks volumes about where the government's priorities lie - and where they don't.
Even more telling is the vast emptiness that greets travelers along this highway.
From the time one leaves Bulawayo to when one finally reaches Hwange, some 335 kilometers later, there is not a single notable town.
The journey feels like driving across a forsaken and deserted wasteland.
How can anyone, in good conscience, call this "leaving no one behind"?
This is the very definition of abandonment.
It is the legacy of a government that talks a lot but delivers little - and only when forced to do so.
Let us not forget, either, that this is the same region that bore the brunt of a brutal genocide in the 1980s.
Over 20,000 innocent civilians were systematically butchered by the ZANU regime under a campaign known as Gukurahundi - simply because of their supposed Ndebele identity.
This unspeakable atrocity has still not been fully acknowledged, and justice has yet to be served.
So when government officials glibly claim that no one and no place is being left behind, they trample on the lived reality of people in Matabeleland, who continue to suffer from political, economic, and developmental exclusion.
Their cries, their needs, and their memories have long been erased from the official national script.
It is not out of some sudden awakening to the needs of the people.
It is because of public outrage and international embarrassment.
It took viral photos, social media pressure, and global exposure for the regime to feel compelled to act.
This is reactionary politics - not visionary leadership.
It is government by shame, not government by foresight.
Even then, let us not pretend there are no ulterior motives.
The sudden urgency to fix this road also presents yet another chance for connected elites to feed from the trough.
Already, there have been whispers - and credible reports - of contracts being secretly awarded well before any formal tender process was launched.
In fact, in May this year, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development was caught in a very embarrassing scandal.
The Ministry had to publicly disown a message posted on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on April 29, 2025, which claimed that contractors were already on site.
The tweet, quoting a Herald article published a day before, declared that the work was already underway.
Yet, the Ministry later stated the information had not been verified and was published in breach of internal standard operating procedures.
Really?
We are supposed to believe that a post from the Ministry's official account, referencing the state newspaper, was just a simple administrative error?
This is Zimbabwe.
We've seen these tricks before.
There is no smoke without fire.
The pattern is always the same: a project is announced with great fanfare, contractors linked to the politically connected swoop in, looting begins under the guise of development, and in the end, the ordinary citizen is left with more potholes, more promises, and more debt.
This is why I ask: why should the government congratulate itself for doing work only after being pressured by the public?
Why should we clap hands when something that should have been done years ago is finally addressed - and only because the government was forced to act?
We should not be in the business of celebrating mediocrity.
We should be demanding accountability.
The question we should all be asking is: how did we get here?
Why were our roads allowed to degrade into such a scandalous state in the first place?
Why do many places in Zimbabwe resemble outbacks in some forgotten, god-forsaken land?
Why are new clinics or schools in rural areas being celebrated as historic milestones - when they should have been built decades ago?
Why have people been forced to walk over 15 kilometers to the nearest health centre for the past 45 years?
These are the questions that matter.
These are the conversations we must have.
We must reject empty slogans, forced praise, and disingenuous propaganda.
Until we start holding our leaders accountable for their failures - instead of celebrating their basic obligations - Zimbabwe will remain stuck in a cycle of decline and deceit.
The real "visionary leadership" we need is one that works proactively, sincerely, and transparently - not one that responds only when exposed.
© 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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