Tendai Ruben Mbofana
Every year, thousands of poor citizens travel to ZANU-PF Annual National People’s Conferences to cheer resolutions and sing the praises of the ruling elite.
To directly receive my articles please join my WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
On paper, these gatherings present a party deeply concerned with the welfare of ordinary citizens.
Delegates pass resolutions to fix broken health facilities, procure essential drugs, pay school fees under the Basic Education Assistance Module, stabilize prices, and restore service delivery to decaying urban centers.
Yet, once the banners are packed away, these promises fade into dust.
The ruling ZANU-PF party focuses far more on self-serving power retention agendas than on the genuine welfare of ordinary people.
Welfare resolutions remain largely unfulfilled lip service, abandoned before delegates even exit the conference venue.
The contrast in implementation efficiency exposes the core priorities of the ruling class.
When a resolution touches on political survival or extending the tenure of the leadership, the state machinery shifts into immediate overdrive.
Resolutions to extend the terms of office of the ruling elite, particularly the president and members of parliament, are characterized as “Resolution No. 1.”
Made in just the past two conferences, these directives were swiftly fast-tracked into constitutional amendments.
They culminated in the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Act, or CAA3, which became law in July 2026.
This year’s conference in Chinhoyi was no exception.
Plans are already underway to amend the party constitution to align with the newly amended national constitution.
These changes will be executed speedily so that the president remains in power until 2030 or beyond.
Yet, we see no such gusto when it comes to implementing resolutions dealing with the welfare of ordinary Zimbabweans.
Over the past three conferences, numerous pro-people resolutions were passed, but nothing tangible has come out of them.
Even more telling is that there has never been a resolution to fight political patronage and systemic elite looting.
Yet this is arguably the single most devastating scourge on our economy.
We all know why.
The human cost of this neglect is devastating.
World Bank Macro Poverty Outlook assessments show that poverty levels continue to rise across the country.
Over the past three years—2023, 2024, and 2025—international extreme poverty levels have hovered around 47 percent.
Lower-middle-income poverty affects roughly 62 percent of the population, while upper-middle-income poverty sits at an astonishing 85 percent.
Formal unemployment remains horribly high at 85 to 90 percent.
Around 85 percent of all income comes from the informal sector, particularly street vending, where the vast majority struggle simply to make ends meet.
Our social safety nets and educational systems have collapsed under this indifference.
According to the public service ministry, the government owes an estimated $293 million for BEAM covering the 2023 to 2025 school cycles.
Because BEAM has not been paid, schools face severe liquidity shortages that leave them unable to purchase textbooks or maintain basic infrastructure.
Meanwhile, pensions remain unacceptably low.
Those on NSSA payouts receive less than $90 a month, while veterans of the liberation struggle earn around $153 a month.
These amounts are woefully inadequate to sustain any human being.
They are especially cruel to the elderly, who can no longer engage in income-generating activities but still face exorbitant costs for housing, food, utilities, and private medication.
Public healthcare facilities remain terribly underfunded and under-resourced.
State hospitals lack basic essentials like paracetamol, surgical supplies, and standard antibiotics.
Functional cancer machines are virtually nonexistent in public institutions, leading to thousands of needless deaths every year among citizens who cannot afford private care.
Municipal infrastructure tells the same tragic story.
Despite repeated conference resolutions compelling local authorities to deliver, urban residents still live without clean water.
In my hometown of Redcliff, residents have gone for nearly a decade without consistent municipal water.
Roads across our towns remain in a deplorable state, and refuse goes uncollected.
Zimbabweans must wake up and realize that these ZANU-PF conferences have absolutely nothing to do with them.
Yet amid all of this, those connected to power continue to live in obscene opulence—flying in private jets, occupying sprawling mansions, and seeking medical treatment abroad.
This wealth is fueled by the pillaging of our national resources through multi-million-dollar opaque deals, gold smuggling, and illicit financial flows.
Over $4 billion is lost each year—resources that could have been used to implement pro-people resolutions and uplift ordinary Zimbabweans.
It is heartbreaking to watch impoverished citizens cheer leaders whose focus remains locked on political self-preservation.
If the ruling elite truly cared about ordinary Zimbabweans, they would force the implementation of pro-people resolutions ahead of pro-president resolutions.
Can anyone imagine the transformation that would come to Zimbabwe if resolutions to alleviate poverty, equip our hospitals, or build new schools were implemented with the same enthusiasm as “Resolution No. 1”?
The truth is undeniable: those in power do not care about us.
They care only for themselves.
Until the promises made to the people are treated with the same sacred urgency as the power retained by the elite, prosperity will remain an impossible dream.
Ordinary Zimbabweans must stand up for themselves and refuse to be used by those in power.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com