Tendai Ruben Mbofana
The recent provocative online commentary by former Chivi South legislator Killer Zivhu ignited a firestorm of controversy.
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In it, he lauded white governance, decried corruption, and lamented the apparent failure of black leadership across Africa.
Yet, stripped of its intentionally polarising tone, the statement laid bare a raw, uncomfortable sentiment echoing through millions of households.
It forces us to confront a provocative question: if Ian Smith were to run for election in Zimbabwe today, would he win a landslide victory?
To ask such a question is not to romanticise settler colonialism, nor is it to forget the severe human rights violations, racial disenfranchisement, and structural inequality of the Rhodesian era.
Smith’s government ran an oppressive state designed to subjugate the majority.
Yet, when ordinary citizens today invoke Smith’s name or assert that he would sweep an election, they are not expressing a desire for a return to racial segregation.
They are engaging in a desperate, hyper-moral protest—a rhetoric of utter disillusionment born out of decades of economic decay and systemic failure.
What matters most to ordinary Zimbabweans is not abstract ideological rhetoric, but the tangible reality of daily survival.
Citizens crave good management and an economy that affords them a living wage.
They long for a stable local currency that is accepted by all and actually usable, rather than leaving the greenback to carry the weight of a fragile economy and end the endless cycle of financial anxiety that robs them of their hard-earned savings.
They want a decent standard of living where hard work yields genuine progress, backed by a government operating with minimal corruption rather than institutionalised self-enrichment.
Look at the public sector today.
Hospitals lack basic drugs and functional equipment, leaving the vulnerable to perish from manageable illnesses.
Public schools operate under severe resource constraints, while government departments are crippled by red tape and inefficiency.
Basic infrastructure has collapsed; our roads are riddled with dangerous potholes, and major urban centres endure months, sometimes years, without clean municipal water.
Reliable, uninterrupted electricity has become a luxury rather than a public utility.
When a nation faces dry taps, crumbling roads, local grid faults, and a healthcare system in ruins, the administrative baseline shifts.
Rhodesia maintained organized public services, a strong currency, and functional municipal systems—even while operating under stringent international sanctions.
For a generation enduring relentless economic hardship, contrasting today’s breakdown with that past administrative efficiency creates a powerful, agonizing narrative.
It isn’t about the color of the ruler’s skin; it is about the baseline competence of the ruler’s state.
When citizens say someone like Smith would win a landslide victory today, they are sending a clear, unequivocal message to the political establishment: ideological credentials can no longer cover for present-day incompetence.
A liberation identity card does not put food on the table, power a factory, or pump water into a kitchen sink.
The vote of an ordinary Zimbabwean is a demand for a working country, and under current conditions, that frustration points to a sweeping mandate for basic competence over empty promises.
If our leaders wish to silence these uncomfortable comparisons once and for all, the solution is straightforward.
They must match their political legitimacy with administrative delivery.
They must repair crumbling infrastructure, eradicate corruption, and restore dignity to public healthcare and education.
Black leadership must deliver a high standard of living and functional public infrastructure for every citizen.
Until then, the ghost of past administrative efficiency will continue to haunt our political discourse.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com