Tendai Ruben Mbofana
Isn’t it profoundly disturbing when self-styled champions of Pan-Africanism lavish praise on figures whose public profiles are inextricably bound to allegations of corruption and grand theft?
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Ambassador Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao recently issued a glowing condolence statement on behalf of the African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI) mourning the late Wicknell Chivayo.
In it, she hailed the controversial tenderpreneur as a “beloved son” and an “icon” whose vision allegedly created jobs across the continent.
In doing so, she did not merely offer condolences; she fundamentally betrayed the principles of the movement she claims to represent.
Why do these self-appointed voices of the diaspora continuously shield those linked to ruling elites, while turning a blind eye to the structural violence inflicted on everyday citizens?
Shouldn’t a true Pan-Africanist care deeply about the devastation wrought when public resources are diverted away from crumbling public hospitals, underfunded schools, and vital infrastructure to enrich a politically connected few?
If Chivayo was indeed the grand industrialist and job creator Dr. Chihombori claims, where are these continent-spanning enterprises?
Can she name a single legitimate enterprise or workforce employed by him beyond his private drivers, jet pilots, security details, and domestic staff?
Where are the factories, the trade fair exhibitions, or the productive investments?
To ordinary Zimbabweans, Chivayo’s corporate footprint consisted largely of shelf companies designed as conduits to siphon multi-million-dollar public tenders.
Most notoriously, his company Intratrek Zimbabwe received US$5 million in public funds for a Gwanda solar power project that ultimately yielded no electricity.
Reconciling those failed public projects with his ostentatious displays of wealth—private jets, sprawling mansions, luxury vehicle fleets, and millions dished out in political patronage—requires an astounding degree of intellectual dishonesty.
As Africans, we are thoroughly exhausted by loud voices in the diaspora who hide behind the rhetoric of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism only to defend the new exploiters of our people.
Dr. Chihombori must answer honestly.
What functional difference exists between the foreign oppressors she denounces daily and the post-independence elites who have impoverished their own citizens?
Today’s opportunistic brand of Pan-Africanism has strayed dangerously far from the founding ideals of Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, and Julius Nyerere.
Those visionary icons fought for the dignity, sovereignty, and material well-being of the African people so that all might enjoy the fruits of our rich natural resources.
They never envisioned a Pan-Africanism that legitimizes the concentration of immense wealth in the hands of a corrupt few while millions go hungry.
It was Nyerere who famously implored Robert Mugabe at independence not to destroy the “jewel of Africa” he was inheriting.
Yet, decades later, post-independence rulers have systematically dismantled those inherited institutions and state capacities.
Does it not trouble Dr. Chihombori that a nation as richly endowed with mineral and human wealth as Zimbabwe ranks among those with the most severe poverty rates?
Globally recognized wealth metrics reveal a staggering reality.
The richest 0.1 percent of Zimbabwe’s population—roughly 16,000 individuals—controls more asset power than the bottom 80 percent of the entire country combined.
This effectively places Zimbabwe 12th worldwide in extreme wealth consolidation.
How can anyone look at this reality and insist that the grinding poverty afflicting roughly 85 percent of the population is the work of supposed sanctions and historical imperialists?
While legitimate entrepreneurs like telecommunications pioneer Strive Masiyiwa built global enterprises through innovation, the same cannot be said for tenderpreneurs who amass fortunes overnight through state patronage.
If individuals like Chivayo represent the modern embodiment of Pan-Africanism, then many would rightfully reject the label entirely.
True Pan-Africanism lives not in comfortable American lecture halls or sycophantic press releases.
But in the resilience of ordinary mothers working the fields to feed their children, and street vendors striving to make an honest living despite relentless state harassment.
They are the true backbone of the continent, far deserving of our honor than the privileged elites who preach liberation while celebrating those who loot the public purse.
It is time to rescue Pan-Africanism from those who have turned a noble ideology into a shield for state-sanctioned theft.
True liberation will not come from glorifying elites who hoard national wealth while public infrastructure collapses and millions fall into poverty.
If Dr. Chihombori and her peers wish to remain relevant, they must align themselves with the suffering masses rather than the politically connected looters.
Until then, any Pan-Africanism that defends the exploiters of Zimbabweans is no Pan-Africanism at all.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com