Paradigm shift strategy. Non-violent Action plan. Of Zimbabwe, for Zimbabwe by Zimbabwe. Responsible, focused Citizens . A harvest of ideas.
Murewa Zimbabwe
Joined December 2022
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The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
Did we shed blood for one man, one vote — only to surrender it now?
Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 quietly takes your ballot back and hands it to MPs you barely know.
Six reasons it must never see the light of day. My latest ↓
open.substack.com/pub/allthi…
#RejectCAB3 #DefendTheConstitution
🤖 Made with AI
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
I totally agree with the mayor of Zimbabwe’s second biggest city, Bulawayo, David Coltart, when he talks about the need to curb the idolisation of leaders, what I call personality politics.
It is important for Africa and Africans to pursue ideas over personalities, because if you pursue ideas, personalities can be replaced as long as the ideas themselves remain intact and are being advanced.
But if you follow personalities without anchoring yourselves in ideas, it means that when that personality gets things wrong, everyone who has invested blind loyalty in that individual is taken down with them. If that personality has no substantive ideas to turn things around or to confront a regime that is destroying the economy, then the entire movement becomes paralysed.
If that personality is compromised or bought by the other side, the whole movement collapses with them because there were never any institutional or ideological foundations to sustain it.
The central problem we face now is that to follow ideas requires, in most cases, an educated populace. Not just educated on paper, but a populace grounded in critical thinking, citizens who understand why it is dangerous to idolise leaders instead of defending principles, systems, and constitutionalism.
In Zimbabwe’s case, that becomes extremely difficult, and it may not even happen in our lifetime.
Take, for example, a frightening statistic. Zimbabwe has never had an Ordinary Level pass rate above 33 percent. At times the pass rate has dropped as low as 14 percent, 13 percent, or 12 percent. That means up to 88 percent of those who sit for Ordinary Level examinations fail. When such a large proportion of the population struggles with basic academic thresholds, the capacity to interrogate political ideas, governance models, and constitutional questions becomes severely limited.
So if someone cannot pass an O Level exam, the opportunity for them to fully grasp the importance of ideas over personality politics becomes very slim. It becomes even more dangerous when political leaders themselves understand this societal thought deficiency and deliberately exploit it.
That is why leaders are able to do reckless things and get away with it through chete-chete politics, which gained prominence under Robert Mugabe. In the middle of a genocide, killing his own citizens, he remained highly popular and was winning elections in the 1980s without the need for overt rigging, largely because of personality politics.
People were following the man, not interrogating the system he was building. They idolised him, and we all know how that story ended. The economy was destroyed and the country was driven into the prolonged crisis we find ourselves in today.
So leaders like David Coltart are very rare in our society, leaders who have the courage to publicly challenge personality cult politics. Many other leaders speak about these issues privately, but they are afraid of being demonised by the very personality cults that dominate both ZANUPF and sections of the opposition.
As long as a country is not led through ideas, it will never succeed. It will never reach its full potential. That is why some young but deeply thoughtful Africans are beginning to ask difficult and controversial questions about governance on the continent, including whether military regimes, if they are idea driven and institution focused rather than personality driven, might sometimes produce better outcomes.
This line of thinking is emerging because electoral politics in many African countries has failed. Where elections are not rigged, citizens often still vote along personality cult lines rather than ideological or policy lines.
As Professor PLO Lumumba once explained, he entered an election campaign armed with ideas, policy proposals, and intellectual substance, but his opponent arrived with money. The opponent became wildly popular because politics became transactional rather than ideological.
Citizens voted for the man who brought them money, not the man who brought them ideas to help them make their own money. They settled for handouts.
In places like Zimbabwe, the situation is even worse. You do not even always need money. If you look at the opposition today, much of its dysfunction is rooted in personality cult politics. Supporters are sustained on sweet nothings and empty rhetoric, and they embrace it enthusiastically because the bar for critical thinking has been driven very low.
So whilst Mayor Coltart is absolutely correct, the reality is that the transformation he is calling for may take generations to materialise. It will take a very long time for Zimbabweans to transition from personality driven politics to idea driven politics.
Until that shift happens, both the ruling party and the opposition will remain trapped in cycles of dysfunction driven not by a lack of leaders, but by a lack of institutional and ideological grounding.
The irony is that Coltart may even be demonised for saying this, because if you remember, the opposition in Zimbabwe was split in 2006 largely because of personality politics. The leader at that time lost a vote in the national executive over senatorial elections, but because people were following him, not ideas or constitutional processes, the opposition fractured. Those who were looking for constitutionalism and institutional integrity ended up leaving.
The same pattern repeated itself in 2016. The opposition leader made a serious blunder by appointing vice presidents in direct violation of what the party constitution provided for. Once that unconstitutional precedent was created, it opened the door for the ruling party to later exploit those internal weaknesses after his death and weaponise that illegality to dismantle the opposition from within.
Up to today, if you engage supporters on these issues, many still refuse to see the common sense in this analysis. They defend the very decisions that weakened their own movement, even with the benefit of hindsight.
It happened again in 2022. The opposition leader set up a political party without a constitution, without defined structures, and without institutional safeguards. He was warned, including by Dr Alex Magaisa, that it was dangerous and that even a temporary constitution would protect both the party and its supporters. He did not listen.
If you read the support base’s comments today, many still do not want to accept that the current mess in the opposition is rooted in those very decisions. That is the danger of idolising leaders instead of defending ideas, systems, and constitutionalism.
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
Speed came and left. Boy is making millions. Now, I was hoping that ZANU PF would ask themselves how somebody without a farm or tractor could be making such. I sit here as someone who has been building streaming infrastructure for years and think, what our farms add to the GDP in year we cld add 2x that by just opening the country up. But again...POWER is more important than happiness
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
This car remains permanently parked in our neighborhood offering unwelcome security to our premises. The paraonia is deafening&unwelcome .It includes stalking&harassing members of the CDF,plans to plant contra band at our premises&homes.These are old regime tactics #LeaveUsAlone
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
1. In 2006 I was literally banned from working in Zim by the state. I had a job offer by the Gov of Botswana, cld not leave because they had taken my passport & they were denying me my Certificate of Good Standing. I was 25 & single. It was a scotched earth policy by the system..
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
I have just spoken to Mbuso Fuzwayo of Ibhetshu Likazulu, and he confirmed to me that he was approached by Sengezo Tshabangu’s lawyer, Nqobani Sithole, to front the constitutional application.
He told me that he was not aware of the nefarious agenda behind it at the time. According to him, he was informed that the final application was still being polished and would later be brought to him to sign on behalf of himself and his organisation.
However, Mbuso Fuzwayo made it clear to me that he will not be signing the application. He has since become aware of the broader scheme behind it — that the case was designed to go to court under the guise of challenging the 2030 agenda, but with a predetermined outcome ensuring its dismissal.
That dismissal would then be used as a political and legal basis to justify and legitimise an unconstitutional extension of President Mnangagwa’s term to 2030.
This revelation adds credibility to the growing concern that the courts are being used not as instruments of justice, but as tools to manufacture legality for political ambitions and forced consent.
It is now clear that after losing the political argument for 2030 in the Court of Public Opinion, the drivers of this agenda have now turned to the courts as their next weapon. Their strategy is to secure a ruling that, while unconstitutional, will still carry the weight and appearance of legality. Once obtained, that ruling will be used to justify and advance their political project of extending President Mnangagwa’s term to 2030.
This tactic mirrors previous manoeuvres where the judiciary was manipulated to produce outcomes that served political ends rather than justice. It represents a dangerous trend in which the law is twisted to manufacture legitimacy, eroding public trust in the courts and turning them into instruments of political expediency rather than constitutional guardianship.
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
Standing in solidarity with the great people of Tanzania who are defying odds to protest against electoral injustice and impunity! Standing in solidarity with comrade Tundu Lissu, the main opposition leader who remains detained since April and his party CHADEMA banned from running in the sham election! The young people of Africa are speaking - let all despots listen.
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
Zimbabwe is not for the faint-hearted 💔. My sister, a retired woman with no medical aid, needed a laminectomy surgery. The bill? US$15,000, surgeon, anaesthetist, spine implant, assistant, theatre fees.
How does a pensioner survive this? How do ordinary people stand a chance? This is the cruel reality of our healthcare system
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
Three years ago, I was entrusted with a rare and important library collection, once owned by Ian Smith, the last colonial prime minister of Rhodesia.
At first I was excited and thought I should donate it to a local university, I called a cabinet minister to ask how I could do this. Fortunately or unfortunately, he advised me to move the library out of Zimbabwe, warning that it would be seized not benefit an institution.
I managed to secure the entire collection in London, where it is safely stored. I do not consider myself its owner, but merely its custodian. In my will, I have stipulated that at the right time this library will be donated to Midlands State University, because Ian Smith came from Shurugwi in the Midlands.
The books have been an eye-opening journey into the mindset of Rhodesia’s last leader. His shelves are filled with economics, trade, and international relations—unsurprising, given his degree in economics from Rhodes University.
But there are also volumes on communism and socialism, which he clearly studied to understand what he saw as the enemy; Zanla and Zipra, the liberation movements. Sanctions-busting literature dominates another part of the library, reflecting his attempt to navigate the crushing trade embargo imposed in 1965, which devastated the Rhodesian economy despite his public pretence. He names people who were doing things for the regime
The collection also reveals Smith’s close ties to British political elites. Among the volumes are books from the Churchill family, including one signed personally by Winston Churchill, and from that time’s famous journalists who were closest admirers. There are works on African culture and traditions, where he engages deeply with the country he ruled.
He admired certain African traditional leaders, particularly Chief Chirau, whom he references several times in his notes. He also acknowledged, in private, the sharp intellect of Robert Mugabe and the statesmanship of Joshua Nkomo; even though he publicly dismissed them as terrorists.
Beyond politics, the library reflects Smith’s other passions. There are books on art, British architecture and an extensive collection on military history, particularly air forces, fitting for a man who was both a soldier and a pilot during the Second World War.
One striking observation is his detailed recognition of how powerful the South African Air Force became when it combined with the British during the Second World War engineered by General Jan Smuts.
He also writes notes about his views on how he felt let him down by the South African apartheid regime.
He also reads about Islam, there are four books on Islamic culture, religion and how it underpins the politics of the Middle East.
This collection is a window into history, the mind of a man who shaped a colonial state, his fears, his fascinations, his prejudices, and his unexpected respects.
It is an archive of contradictions, and when the time is right, it will belong to Midlands State University, rooted in the very soil of Smith’s birthplace, Shurugwi.
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
11/
Receipts — Martin Meredith’s Mugabe: Power, Plunder and the Struggle for Zimbabwe (2002) on the Z$5.6bn contract; IMF Country Report 01/200 (2001) on debt, inflation and GDP collapse; Transparency International Zimbabwe (2001–2002) on kickbacks. The paper trail is public. The theft was, too.
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
The only time I saw Eddison Zvobgo in the flesh I was on my way to Rezende Bus Terminus to catch a bus home on a busy Friday afternoon in 1992. His black ministerial Mercedes Benz was parked near Kingston Bookshop along Kwame Nkrumah Avenue. The late Masvingo Zanu-PF kingpin looked dapper and sharp and larger than life as he puffed on a cigarette by the pavement.
I was surprised to see him appear cool and calm and collected in a public spot. Cabinet ministers breathed rarefied air back then and lived aloof from the very people whose lives depended on their actions and decisions. However I had heard that Minister Zvobgo loved to meet and talk with commoners at Chevron Hotel in Masvingo. So I had one million questions for him that day. And yet for all my juvenile ambition I was awed by his presence and mindful of two mean-looking bodyguards near him – so much so – I hesitated and walked on when presented with half a chance to pick his famed intellectual brains.
But that was the real problem. I had buckled under the strain of built-up anxiety and fear and remained crushed and dwarfed by the bizarrely false independence-era belief that you cannot hobnob with Cabinet ministers and ask them difficult questions about critical national matters. I simply wanted to know why Minister Zvobgo had crafted the executive presidency.
But even before that constitutional disaster came along Zimbabwe had been a very fearsome and inhibitory society. I remember how I often spent holidays at Kamativi Tin Mine in Matabeleland North. My aunt Resca worked as a nurse at the mine hospital and enjoyed inviting family members over. I had wonderful friends in Kamativi. Like Munyaradzi: his mother hailed from Mashonaland while his father was Ndebele. Munyaradzi and I really had fun. We would play at the mine compound and shops and wander around aimlessly each and every day.
Whenever Munyaradzi was not around I used to get around the mine on my own speaking a combination of English and Shona without a problem at all. I really loved the place. I really loved the people. And I really loved the journey from Harare to Kamativi – especially when I took the train to Bulawayo along with my elder niece – since I enjoyed drinking coffee and eating snacks on the train. Uncharacteristically I also loved the bus ride from Bulawayo to Kamativi and treasured passing through places like Lupane district.
It was all so lovely and normal and tranquil and the mine itself was a beautiful labour of construction. My aunt Resca had a nice little company house which was located on a small hill near the shops. She stayed in Kamativi for so long my youngest niece learnt to speak fluent Ndebele. Later she would marry a Ndebele man and open up a whole new world for us all and our Ndebele in-laws.
I have nonetheless never been able to view my brother-in-law through ethnic eyes. I have never been to label my friends using regional locations. I have never put any credence to where they were born and the languages they speak. I have also learnt to avoid the discriminatory friends I had in the past and maintain very few fair-minded acquaintances.
Because while I was young and enjoying my childhood in Kamativi – Gukurahundi was well underway in parts of Matabeleland. All the while nobody ever treated me badly in Kamativi. Nobody threatened me. Nobody hurt me. Nobody made me feel unwelcome. I was treated like any other child and never felt unloved and unwanted wherever I went. I would not have spent so many holidays there were that not the case. So how was I to know about cruel civilian deaths elsewhere when there was a total media blackout on the deadly matter?
But when I was older and knew better and the Internet came alive I downloaded a report on the Catholic Church investigation into Gukurahundi. It is such a graphic and horrific report of the brutal terror that the Perence Shiri-led Fifth Brigade carried out reading it sends shivers up and down one's spine. Tribal-based animosity and conflict did not however end when the horrendous hostilities ceased and the Unity Accord was signed in 1987. In the aftermath of the low-level war many Shona racists have found fertile grounds to continually sow the seeds of tribalism in Zimbabwe.
I have heard a lot of inane fallacies about how and why Gukurahundi happened. I have heard seemingly normal and rational people routinely infer that the Ndebele people caused Gukurahundi and deserved to suffer and die for it. I have heard incredibly reckless statements about how Ndebele people pretend not to speak Shona. Yet I have so many excellent friends who happen to be Ndebele and have never expected them to speak Shona.
They are my friends and not language experts and I do not speak Ndebele anyway. Maybe if I had learnt Ndebele alongside Shona at school I would speak several languages now.
I do not tolerate prejudice in any context and consciously avoid people who are racial bigots. I appreciate all manner of people and work hard to maintain a healthy mind and transparent approach towards cultural diversity. I have in-laws who are Zulu and that too has been a wonderful experience.
So I would have loved to know what the Harvard-trained Zvobgo thought about Gukurahundi. Did he have a legal opinion and personal position on the awful tragedy? Did he believe that military officials should face prosecution for the tragedy? Did he believe in the establishment of a truth and reconciliation and compensation process for the victims of Gukurahundi and their loved ones? I feel for the people who lost family and friends in utterly inhumane circumstances. Zimbabwe must reach out and let them know that all broadminded humanitarians feel their pain still.
Which is why Zimbabwe should offer an unreserved and wholehearted apology to the affected families and Matabeleland regions. I hope that the unreasonable fear that flourishes in social and political spaces will perish forever. I also hope that contemporary divisions between regular people and wealthy elected representatives will somehow be substituted with confidence-building actions and accountability and profound prosperity for all. I truthfully hope for an equal society where nobody from Matabeleland feels foreign and left out because of historic injustices and social and economic discrimination.
I cannot remember when I made my final journey to Kamativi. But I remember the warmth and sunshine that overwhelmed the small mining town like I was there yesterday. Low tin prices led to the closure of the mine in 1994. Yet the humble and wonderful people in Kamativi had opened my world to the abundant richness of common humanity. Zimbabwe must have a million melting pots like Kamativi. Places where real unity rises above politics and public posturing. Places where people relish a multicultural society and care for each other without callous expectation of mainstream recognition or a round of public applause. Places that you and I will always feel happy and proud to call home.
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
While in Zimbabwe I observe 6 paradoxes
1. Credible opposition is dead, yet ruling party weakened by highly charged succession machinations
2. Rural and urban poverty is deep, yet informal economy is thriving
3. There is high perception of big corruption and small corrupt tendencies, yet there is louder anti-corruption talk
4. Artisanal mining is booming, yet the environmental destruction is overwhelming
5. There is intense religiosity, but moral decay is rampant
6. There are many foreign nationals, especially Chinese, but their contribution to the economy is not yet evident.
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
Did you know that @edmnangagwa was the acting President when Itai Dzamara was abducted 10 years ago, and never returned?
Mukoma Itai would have turned 46 years today.
We continue demanding closure on his abduction.
Happy birthday our HERO, your legacy lives on forever🫡
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
It’s Time to #ClaimOurSpace
Join us tomorrow, 1 August at 7:30 PM, CAT, for a powerful conversation on defending and reclaiming our civic space in Zimbabwe.
Let’s speak up, stand firm, and own our story.
Find link below for Twitter space
teapawt.net/i/spaces/1mrGmPMPErVKy
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
Well done to Kenya for doing the right thing.
The idea of an African needing a visa to enter another African country is not only ludicrous, it also drains money from the continent, as many of us end up holidaying elsewhere where visas are not required.
Africa will never unite if her children need permission to visit each other.
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
nehandaradio.com/2025/06/27/…
Today is June 27, a day known for Zanu PF violence. Their thugs asked their victims to choose between "short sleeve" (having your wrists cut off) or "long sleeve" (having the hand cut off from the shoulder)?
But then there was MT's June 27 memo
The Signal Zimbabwe retweeted
Like their Kenyan family, Togolese are out on the street today in Lome, fighting for the same thing as their Kenyan counterparts. Let us remember them in our thoughts.
