Tendai Ruben Mbofana
In my work as a social justice advocate, I have received widespread commendation for writings that hold those in authority to account while giving a voice to the marginalized.
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It is always motivating, yet frequently heartbreaking, as people from all walks of life share their experiences of injustice at the hands of the powerful.
I do my best to stand up for them—whether by amplifying their plight through public commentary or directly engaging authorities to seek redress.
In many cases, especially when advocating for individuals, justice eventually prevails.
Yet, expectedly, not everyone appreciates this work.
A vocal few take offense at my persistent critiques of the state, claiming I refuse to acknowledge anything positive the government accomplishes.
I acknowledge their perspective.
But a quick look at their own public discourse reveals a disturbing trend: they are perpetually praising the ruling elite, completely blind to systemic failure.
Can we honestly say that uncritical adulation is a virtue?
Is this what Zimbabwe needs?
In what way does sycophancy develop a nation or improve the daily reality of ordinary citizens enduring gross injustice and poverty?
I am always tempted to ask these praise-singers: how many suffering Zimbabweans view you as a refuge in their hour of need?
Citizens do not turn to bootlickers when their rights are violated or their livelihoods destroyed.
They know that sycophancy offers no shelter.
For any nation to prosper, citizens must hold those in power accountable.
Democracy dies not only in darkness, but in the blinding, uncritical light of blind loyalty.
If relentless critique is accused of being cynical, then unconditional praise is far more dangerous—it is an act of civic betrayal.
Power is inherently intoxicating, and when left unchecked by public scrutiny, authority naturally drifts toward excess, corruption, and complacency.
Praise-singing removes the vital friction that keeps governments functional, responsive, and grounded in reality.
When sycophants applaud every policy, regardless of its real-world failure, they actively insulate leaders from the suffering of the public.
They create an echo chamber where official propaganda replaces daily reality, allowing roads to crumble, hospitals to lack basic medicine, and inflation to erode human dignity, all while leaders are assured that everything is progressing smoothly.
This blind devotion does not build a nation; it destroys it from within by granting those in authority a blank check for impunity.
When praise becomes mandatory and critique is labeled as enmity, governance devolves into a theater of self-congratulation while the masses starve.
A government is not a sports team to be blindly cheered through every devastating loss.
It is a public service entity funded by taxpayers, bound by a constitutional duty to serve every citizen equally.
Patriotism does not mean defending the ruling elite; it means defending the country and its people—sometimes from the very government elected to serve them.
Dissent is not treason; it is the highest form of civic duty, driven by the unwavering belief that our nation deserves better than misrule.
When citizens stop demanding better, they signal to those in power that mediocrity and corruption are acceptable standards.
The tragedy of the praise-singer is that their loyalty is rarely to the country, but to the breadcrumbs falling from the benefactor’s table.
They trade the long-term prosperity of future generations for temporary comfort, failing to realize that bad governance eventually consumes everyone, including those who cheered it on.
A broken healthcare system does not ask for your political allegiance before it fails you; a collapsed economy deprives the sycophant just as ruthlessly as it deprives the critic.
If always critiquing the government is viewed as bad, then always praising it is infinitely worse.
A critical voice demands better governance, higher standards, and true justice for the oppressed.
A sycophantic voice demands submission, excuses systemic decay, and enables tyranny.
Zimbabwe will never progress on a steady diet of forced praise and manufactured contentment.
True development requires the courage to speak truth to power and confront uncomfortable realities directly.
Legitimacy must be earned through accountability, not applause.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com