ZTA PURGES EXPOSE BARBARA RWODZI’S POWER GAMES

A message that was never meant for the public eye has now exposed one of the many hidden battles happening inside Zimbabwe’s government. William Stima, the acting chief executive of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, accidentally posted a private message on his WhatsApp status. That one mistake has pulled the curtain back on a series of internal purges happening under the watch of Tourism Minister Barbara Rwodzi. It is now clear that ZTA is not just managing tourism but also managing a silent war against its own senior staff.

In the message addressed to the ministry’s permanent secretary Takaruza Munyenyiwa, Stima revealed plans for further removals of top staff. It was not meant to be seen by the public, but once it was posted, there was no hiding from it. The message confirmed what many insiders have been whispering for months. A political cleansing is happening inside the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. And it is being done in the name of restructuring.

So far, three executive directors and six department heads have been removed under Barbara Rwodzi’s leadership. That is not restructuring. That is a total wipeout of the top management. For a government agency that is supposed to promote Zimbabwe’s tourism and bring in investment, this kind of internal chaos is dangerous. It means the agency has no direction and no stable leadership.

ZTA’s official response is that this is all part of a wider retrenchment and restructuring program. Since mid 2019, about 33 staff have been retrenched and in total 36 people have left. The justification has been to reduce high staff-cost-to-revenue ratios. They claim it is about financial health and redirecting funds to development projects. But anyone who has followed Zimbabwean politics knows this is just a cover-up.

There are growing complaints from within the organisation. Some insiders say the latest wave of removals has nothing to do with performance or cost cutting. They say people are being targeted for personal reasons and vendettas. These are not fair processes. These are political games that are now destroying one of the few government departments that was actually supposed to generate income for the country.

Zimbabwe is in a serious economic crisis. Every dollar counts. Tourism is supposed to be one of the few areas that can bring in foreign currency and boost the image of the country. But instead of focusing on results, the minister is focusing on control. These purges are not about improving performance. They are about power.

When the top layer of an organisation is wiped out like this, it raises serious questions. Who is being appointed in their place. Are they qualified or are they loyal. Are they experts or are they connected. This is the same pattern we have seen across Zimbabwe. Replace experience with loyalty. Replace competence with control. And then blame sanctions when everything falls apart.

What William Stima did was careless. But it was also a gift to the people of Zimbabwe. It gave us a glimpse into how our institutions are being hollowed out from the inside. Now it is up to journalists and civil society to keep digging. The NewsHawks has already said they are investigating. But we need more than investigations. We need accountability.

This scandal is not just about one WhatsApp status. It is about a dangerous culture of purges and power games. It is about a government that is more interested in control than progress. And it is about a people who are left to suffer while the powerful play games with our future.