MNANGAGWA DEEPENS ZANU PF POVERTY MODEL

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has once again shown that ZANU PF is not ready to change from its old ways of keeping people poor so that they can control them. Today in Torwood, Kwekwe, the President launched what he calls the Presidential Poultry Scheme. Under this scheme, he donated 10 000 chicks and stockfeed to the Midlands ZANU PF Women’s League. On the surface, it may look like a good thing, but the truth is that this is the same poverty trap that ZANU PF has used for many years.

Instead of creating a strong economy where everyone has equal chances to succeed, the party gives out small handouts to selected groups. These groups are almost always linked to ZANU PF or those who show loyalty to the party. This is not development. This is a way to make people dependent on the ruling party. If you want more help, you must continue to praise and support them. That is the real plan.

Over the years, ZANU PF has failed to fix the country’s economy. They have failed to create jobs, to stop corruption, and to make sure that every citizen has the same opportunities. Instead of building industries, attracting investors, and improving the lives of all Zimbabweans, they keep finding new ways to control the poor. This poultry scheme is just another example.

Many people will clap for the President today because they are hungry and desperate. But after some months, the chicks will be gone, the stockfeed will be finished, and those women will be back where they started — still poor and struggling. ZANU PF will then come again with another “gift” and the cycle will continue. This is not how a country should be run. This is not how a leader should treat his people.

True leadership is about giving people the tools to stand on their own feet. It is about building an economy that works for everyone, not just for those in the party structures. A real leader would make sure that the same women in the Midlands can start their own poultry businesses without waiting for a donation from the President. A real leader would create a system where even those who do not support the ruling party can get help and opportunities.

For ZANU PF, poverty is not a problem they want to solve. Poverty is a political weapon. The poorer you are, the more likely you are to depend on their food handouts, farming inputs, or small gifts. And when you depend on them, they can control how you vote, how you speak, and how you think. This is why the economy is not improving. This is why Zimbabweans are leaving the country in large numbers to find work in South Africa, Botswana, and the UK.

People must open their eyes to this game. We must ask ourselves why, after more than 40 years of independence, Zimbabwe is still struggling. We must ask why leaders with so much power cannot make real change. The answer is clear: real change would make people independent, and independent people are hard to control.

ZANU PF’s poverty model is dangerous. It kills the dreams of our youth. It makes the country weaker. It divides people into those who are loyal and those who are left to suffer. If we want a better Zimbabwe, we must reject this system of dependency and demand an economy that gives everyone a fair chance. No one should have to beg for a small gift from a politician in order to survive.

A better Zimbabwe is possible. But it will not come from chicks and stockfeed. It will come from leaders who believe in equality, fairness, and real development. Until then, the poverty model will remain the heartbeat of ZANU PF politics — and the chains that keep Zimbabweans from being truly free.