There are realities that only become clear through firsthand experience.Tendai Ruben MbofanaThere is something deeply agonizing about waking up each morning to the painful reality that one lives in a failed state.To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on:https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08Zimbabwe, once a beacon of hope, admired as the “jewel of Africa,” has become a tragic case study of how a promising nation can be completely ruined by the very people entrusted with its stewardship.Under the long, disastrous rule of ZANU-PF—first under the late Robert Mugabe, and now under Emmerson Mnangagwa—the country has been run into the ground.Zimbabwe is no longer just in crisis.It is in collapse.Our economy is on life support, struggling to breathe under the heavy weight of decades of misrule, corruption, and misguided policies.Everyone knows the statistics by now.Over 80% of the population is living in poverty.Millions cannot afford to put a simple meal on the table, let alone send their children to school or access basic healthcare.Unemployment is estimated at over 90%, with the majority of Zimbabweans forced into the informal sector—scraping a living through street vending, cross-border trading, and menial work.Many of our young people, unable to find meaning or hope in this broken country, are turning to drugs, prostitution, and petty crime.Even those who manage to secure formal jobs live hand to mouth, earning wages that are barely enough to cover transport, rent, or a bag of maize meal.Our hospitals are shells of despair, lacking medication, equipment, or even staff.Our schools are crumbling, with demotivated teachers and children sitting on bare floors, trying to learn without books, electricity, or food.We write about these things.We talk about them.But until you step outside Zimbabwe, until you visit a fellow African country, the full horror of our situation doesn’t truly hit home.We often compare ourselves with Western countries—places with centuries of development, strong institutions, and functioning systems—but that can seem abstract or unfair.What shook me to the core was a recent visit to Kenya, a country we used to see as lagging behind us in terms of development.I had travelled to Nairobi for the George Ayittey Society’s 2025 Annual Meeting and the Africa Liberty Forum, organized by the Atlas Network.What I witnessed in those few days opened my eyes to just how far behind Zimbabwe has fallen.And it hurt Deeply.Landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was in itself a revelation.Our own Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (RGMIA) may be newer and architecturally more impressive, but what use is a shiny building when barely any international airlines land there?In the two hours I spent at the RGMIA departure lounge before my trip to Nairobi, only two planes landed—one from RwandaAir and another from Kenya Airways.The tarmac was desolate.In stark contrast, JKIA was a hive of activity.Every few minutes, a new aircraft touched down or took off—from British Airways, KLM, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and others.The apron was filled with aircraft we haven’t seen in Zimbabwe for decades.That speaks volumes.International airlines don’t go where there is no economic activity.They don’t flock to countries with collapsing economies, unstable currencies, and unreliable systems.They go where there is opportunity, business, trade, and tourism.A busy airport is a symptom of a healthy economy—not an impressive terminal building.Walking through Nairobi was equally enlightening.I was in the company of my friend Rejoice Ngwenya, and one of the first things we noticed was the near-complete absence of money transfer agencies like Western Union, MoneyGram, and Mukuru.In Zimbabwe, these outlets are everywhere.They are lifelines for a population that survives primarily on remittances from family abroad.It’s not unusual to see longer queues at money transfer outlets than at banks.In Kenya, these are barely visible, because most people can sustain themselves.Their economy, though far from perfect, provides jobs and opportunity.People don’t need to rely on distant relatives just to eat or send children to school.Another striking observation was the absence of street vendors.In Zimbabwe, every major city, especially Harare and Bulawayo, has been overtaken by vendors selling anything from tomatoes to secondhand clothes.Entire pavements are impassable.Shop entrances are blocked.Even those in formal employment resort to vending to supplement their meager earnings.In Nairobi, however, the streets were clean and orderly.Vendors were largely absent from the CBD.This was not a result of forced removals or oppressive policing—it reflected a functioning economy where people don’t have to scramble in the streets just to survive.The presence of multinational companies in Nairobi further hammered the truth home.One that particularly caught my attention was LonRho—an iconic name that literally stands for London Rhodesia.A company with such deep colonial ties to Zimbabwe no longer operates here.It packed up and left years ago.Yet in Kenya, it continues to thrive and has set up its headquarters.That is a damning indictment of the business environment in Zimbabwe.If a company that was literally born here has fled to more stable pastures, what does that say about our ability to attract and retain investment?Our factories lie idle, our shops close down every week, and even our most loyal local entrepreneurs are either giving up or relocating.Then there’s the issue of currency.In Kenya, people use their local currency with confidence.The Kenyan shilling trades at around KSh129 to the US dollar, but that doesn’t bother Kenyans.They trust their money because they trust their institutions.They trust the people managing their economy.In Zimbabwe, the opposite is true.No one believes in the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency.Not because Zimbabweans are irrational or unpatriotic, but because they’ve seen this story before—five failed currencies, hyperinflation, price distortions, and worthless savings.Even banks don’t have ZiG in their ATMs.It’s virtually unavailable on the market.The only reason the currency appears stable is because no one can get it, use it, or exchange it.No wonder most transactions are still done in US dollars, and even fuel stations refuse to accept anything else.If I had tried to exchange the ZiG I had in Nairobi, the bank staff would likely have laughed—not out of malice, but because the currency is virtually unknown and unrecognized outside Zimbabwe.That in itself is a powerful indictment of how little confidence even the global financial system has in our local money.This is the pain of living in a failed state.A country of immense potential, blessed with resources, educated people, and a rich history—reduced to a hollow shell by looters and liars.The ruling elite and their propaganda machinery may try to deny it.They may host press conferences to tout fake successes or blame sanctions and foreign conspiracies.But the truth is stubborn.It refuses to be silenced.You see it in our empty airports.You feel it in our streets.You experience it every time a parent cannot afford school fees or a patient dies due to lack of medicine.What Zimbabweans want is not grand speeches or flashy buildings.We want real development, honest leadership, and policies that put the people first.We want a functioning economy, free from corruption and built on transparency and merit.We want prosperity that can be felt in homes, not propaganda plastered across billboards or newspapers.Until that happens, the pain of living in a failed state will continue to haunt us—every day, with every breath.Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email:mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website:https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/Post published in:FeaturedRelatedThe Energy Crisis : Need to Re-look at the Energy MixIt’s so shameless for the Mnangagwa government to claim credit for houses built by private citizensLeave a ReplyCancel reply
There are realities that only become clear through firsthand experience.Tendai Ruben MbofanaThere is something deeply agonizing about waking up each morning to the painful reality that one lives in a failed state.To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on:https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08Zimbabwe, once a beacon of hope, admired as the “jewel of Africa,” has become a tragic case study of how a promising nation can be completely ruined by the very people entrusted with its stewardship.Under the long, disastrous rule of ZANU-PF—first under the late Robert Mugabe, and now under Emmerson Mnangagwa—the country has been run into the ground.Zimbabwe is no longer just in crisis.It is in collapse.Our economy is on life support, struggling to breathe under the heavy weight of decades of misrule, corruption, and misguided policies.Everyone knows the statistics by now.Over 80% of the population is living in poverty.Millions cannot afford to put a simple meal on the table, let alone send their children to school or access basic healthcare.Unemployment is estimated at over 90%, with the majority of Zimbabweans forced into the informal sector—scraping a living through street vending, cross-border trading, and menial work.Many of our young people, unable to find meaning or hope in this broken country, are turning to drugs, prostitution, and petty crime.Even those who manage to secure formal jobs live hand to mouth, earning wages that are barely enough to cover transport, rent, or a bag of maize meal.Our hospitals are shells of despair, lacking medication, equipment, or even staff.Our schools are crumbling, with demotivated teachers and children sitting on bare floors, trying to learn without books, electricity, or food.We write about these things.We talk about them.But until you step outside Zimbabwe, until you visit a fellow African country, the full horror of our situation doesn’t truly hit home.We often compare ourselves with Western countries—places with centuries of development, strong institutions, and functioning systems—but that can seem abstract or unfair.What shook me to the core was a recent visit to Kenya, a country we used to see as lagging behind us in terms of development.I had travelled to Nairobi for the George Ayittey Society’s 2025 Annual Meeting and the Africa Liberty Forum, organized by the Atlas Network.What I witnessed in those few days opened my eyes to just how far behind Zimbabwe has fallen.And it hurt Deeply.Landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was in itself a revelation.Our own Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (RGMIA) may be newer and architecturally more impressive, but what use is a shiny building when barely any international airlines land there?In the two hours I spent at the RGMIA departure lounge before my trip to Nairobi, only two planes landed—one from RwandaAir and another from Kenya Airways.The tarmac was desolate.In stark contrast, JKIA was a hive of activity.Every few minutes, a new aircraft touched down or took off—from British Airways, KLM, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and others.The apron was filled with aircraft we haven’t seen in Zimbabwe for decades.That speaks volumes.International airlines don’t go where there is no economic activity.They don’t flock to countries with collapsing economies, unstable currencies, and unreliable systems.They go where there is opportunity, business, trade, and tourism.A busy airport is a symptom of a healthy economy—not an impressive terminal building.Walking through Nairobi was equally enlightening.I was in the company of my friend Rejoice Ngwenya, and one of the first things we noticed was the near-complete absence of money transfer agencies like Western Union, MoneyGram, and Mukuru.In Zimbabwe, these outlets are everywhere.They are lifelines for a population that survives primarily on remittances from family abroad.It’s not unusual to see longer queues at money transfer outlets than at banks.In Kenya, these are barely visible, because most people can sustain themselves.Their economy, though far from perfect, provides jobs and opportunity.People don’t need to rely on distant relatives just to eat or send children to school.Another striking observation was the absence of street vendors.In Zimbabwe, every major city, especially Harare and Bulawayo, has been overtaken by vendors selling anything from tomatoes to secondhand clothes.Entire pavements are impassable.Shop entrances are blocked.Even those in formal employment resort to vending to supplement their meager earnings.In Nairobi, however, the streets were clean and orderly.Vendors were largely absent from the CBD.This was not a result of forced removals or oppressive policing—it reflected a functioning economy where people don’t have to scramble in the streets just to survive.The presence of multinational companies in Nairobi further hammered the truth home.One that particularly caught my attention was LonRho—an iconic name that literally stands for London Rhodesia.A company with such deep colonial ties to Zimbabwe no longer operates here.It packed up and left years ago.Yet in Kenya, it continues to thrive and has set up its headquarters.That is a damning indictment of the business environment in Zimbabwe.If a company that was literally born here has fled to more stable pastures, what does that say about our ability to attract and retain investment?Our factories lie idle, our shops close down every week, and even our most loyal local entrepreneurs are either giving up or relocating.Then there’s the issue of currency.In Kenya, people use their local currency with confidence.The Kenyan shilling trades at around KSh129 to the US dollar, but that doesn’t bother Kenyans.They trust their money because they trust their institutions.They trust the people managing their economy.In Zimbabwe, the opposite is true.No one believes in the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency.Not because Zimbabweans are irrational or unpatriotic, but because they’ve seen this story before—five failed currencies, hyperinflation, price distortions, and worthless savings.Even banks don’t have ZiG in their ATMs.It’s virtually unavailable on the market.The only reason the currency appears stable is because no one can get it, use it, or exchange it.No wonder most transactions are still done in US dollars, and even fuel stations refuse to accept anything else.If I had tried to exchange the ZiG I had in Nairobi, the bank staff would likely have laughed—not out of malice, but because the currency is virtually unknown and unrecognized outside Zimbabwe.That in itself is a powerful indictment of how little confidence even the global financial system has in our local money.This is the pain of living in a failed state.A country of immense potential, blessed with resources, educated people, and a rich history—reduced to a hollow shell by looters and liars.The ruling elite and their propaganda machinery may try to deny it.They may host press conferences to tout fake successes or blame sanctions and foreign conspiracies.But the truth is stubborn.It refuses to be silenced.You see it in our empty airports.You feel it in our streets.You experience it every time a parent cannot afford school fees or a patient dies due to lack of medicine.What Zimbabweans want is not grand speeches or flashy buildings.We want real development, honest leadership, and policies that put the people first.We want a functioning economy, free from corruption and built on transparency and merit.We want prosperity that can be felt in homes, not propaganda plastered across billboards or newspapers.Until that happens, the pain of living in a failed state will continue to haunt us—every day, with every breath.Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer
Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email:mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website:https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/Post published in:FeaturedRelatedThe Energy Crisis : Need to Re-look at the Energy MixIt’s so shameless for the Mnangagwa government to claim credit for houses built by private citizensLeave a ReplyCancel reply
There are realities that only become clear through firsthand experience.Tendai Ruben MbofanaThere is something deeply agonizing about waking up each morning to the painful reality that one lives in a failed state.To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on:https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08Zimbabwe, once a beacon of hope, admired as the “jewel of Africa,” has become a tragic case study of how a promising nation can be completely ruined by the very people entrusted with its stewardship.Under the long, disastrous rule of ZANU-PF—first under the late Robert Mugabe, and now under Emmerson Mnangagwa—the country has been run into the ground.Zimbabwe is no longer just in crisis.It is in collapse.Our economy is on life support, struggling to breathe under the heavy weight of decades of misrule, corruption, and misguided policies.Everyone knows the statistics by now.Over 80% of the population is living in poverty.Millions cannot afford to put a simple meal on the table, let alone send their children to school or access basic healthcare.Unemployment is estimated at over 90%, with the majority of Zimbabweans forced into the informal sector—scraping a living through street vending, cross-border trading, and menial work.Many of our young people, unable to find meaning or hope in this broken country, are turning to drugs, prostitution, and petty crime.Even those who manage to secure formal jobs live hand to mouth, earning wages that are barely enough to cover transport, rent, or a bag of maize meal.Our hospitals are shells of despair, lacking medication, equipment, or even staff.Our schools are crumbling, with demotivated teachers and children sitting on bare floors, trying to learn without books, electricity, or food.We write about these things.We talk about them.But until you step outside Zimbabwe, until you visit a fellow African country, the full horror of our situation doesn’t truly hit home.We often compare ourselves with Western countries—places with centuries of development, strong institutions, and functioning systems—but that can seem abstract or unfair.What shook me to the core was a recent visit to Kenya, a country we used to see as lagging behind us in terms of development.I had travelled to Nairobi for the George Ayittey Society’s 2025 Annual Meeting and the Africa Liberty Forum, organized by the Atlas Network.What I witnessed in those few days opened my eyes to just how far behind Zimbabwe has fallen.And it hurt Deeply.Landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was in itself a revelation.Our own Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (RGMIA) may be newer and architecturally more impressive, but what use is a shiny building when barely any international airlines land there?In the two hours I spent at the RGMIA departure lounge before my trip to Nairobi, only two planes landed—one from RwandaAir and another from Kenya Airways.The tarmac was desolate.In stark contrast, JKIA was a hive of activity.Every few minutes, a new aircraft touched down or took off—from British Airways, KLM, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and others.The apron was filled with aircraft we haven’t seen in Zimbabwe for decades.That speaks volumes.International airlines don’t go where there is no economic activity.They don’t flock to countries with collapsing economies, unstable currencies, and unreliable systems.They go where there is opportunity, business, trade, and tourism.A busy airport is a symptom of a healthy economy—not an impressive terminal building.Walking through Nairobi was equally enlightening.I was in the company of my friend Rejoice Ngwenya, and one of the first things we noticed was the near-complete absence of money transfer agencies like Western Union, MoneyGram, and Mukuru.In Zimbabwe, these outlets are everywhere.They are lifelines for a population that survives primarily on remittances from family abroad.It’s not unusual to see longer queues at money transfer outlets than at banks.In Kenya, these are barely visible, because most people can sustain themselves.Their economy, though far from perfect, provides jobs and opportunity.People don’t need to rely on distant relatives just to eat or send children to school.Another striking observation was the absence of street vendors.In Zimbabwe, every major city, especially Harare and Bulawayo, has been overtaken by vendors selling anything from tomatoes to secondhand clothes.Entire pavements are impassable.Shop entrances are blocked.Even those in formal employment resort to vending to supplement their meager earnings.In Nairobi, however, the streets were clean and orderly.Vendors were largely absent from the CBD.This was not a result of forced removals or oppressive policing—it reflected a functioning economy where people don’t have to scramble in the streets just to survive.The presence of multinational companies in Nairobi further hammered the truth home.One that particularly caught my attention was LonRho—an iconic name that literally stands for London Rhodesia.A company with such deep colonial ties to Zimbabwe no longer operates here.It packed up and left years ago.Yet in Kenya, it continues to thrive and has set up its headquarters.That is a damning indictment of the business environment in Zimbabwe.If a company that was literally born here has fled to more stable pastures, what does that say about our ability to attract and retain investment?Our factories lie idle, our shops close down every week, and even our most loyal local entrepreneurs are either giving up or relocating.Then there’s the issue of currency.In Kenya, people use their local currency with confidence.The Kenyan shilling trades at around KSh129 to the US dollar, but that doesn’t bother Kenyans.They trust their money because they trust their institutions.They trust the people managing their economy.In Zimbabwe, the opposite is true.No one believes in the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency.Not because Zimbabweans are irrational or unpatriotic, but because they’ve seen this story before—five failed currencies, hyperinflation, price distortions, and worthless savings.Even banks don’t have ZiG in their ATMs.It’s virtually unavailable on the market.The only reason the currency appears stable is because no one can get it, use it, or exchange it.No wonder most transactions are still done in US dollars, and even fuel stations refuse to accept anything else.If I had tried to exchange the ZiG I had in Nairobi, the bank staff would likely have laughed—not out of malice, but because the currency is virtually unknown and unrecognized outside Zimbabwe.That in itself is a powerful indictment of how little confidence even the global financial system has in our local money.This is the pain of living in a failed state.A country of immense potential, blessed with resources, educated people, and a rich history—reduced to a hollow shell by looters and liars.The ruling elite and their propaganda machinery may try to deny it.They may host press conferences to tout fake successes or blame sanctions and foreign conspiracies.But the truth is stubborn.It refuses to be silenced.You see it in our empty airports.You feel it in our streets.You experience it every time a parent cannot afford school fees or a patient dies due to lack of medicine.What Zimbabweans want is not grand speeches or flashy buildings.We want real development, honest leadership, and policies that put the people first.We want a functioning economy, free from corruption and built on transparency and merit.We want prosperity that can be felt in homes, not propaganda plastered across billboards or newspapers.Until that happens, the pain of living in a failed state will continue to haunt us—every day, with every breath.Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email:mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website:https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/Post published in:FeaturedRelatedThe Energy Crisis : Need to Re-look at the Energy MixIt’s so shameless for the Mnangagwa government to claim credit for houses built by private citizensLeave a ReplyCancel reply
There are realities that only become clear through firsthand experience There are realities that only become clear through firsthand experience
Tendai Ruben MbofanaThere is something deeply agonizing about waking up each morning to the painful reality that one lives in a failed state.To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on:https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08Zimbabwe, once a beacon of hope, admired as the “jewel of Africa,” has become a tragic case study of how a promising nation can be completely ruined by the very people entrusted with its stewardship.Under the long, disastrous rule of ZANU-PF—first under the late Robert Mugabe, and now under Emmerson Mnangagwa—the country has been run into the ground.Zimbabwe is no longer just in crisis.It is in collapse.Our economy is on life support, struggling to breathe under the heavy weight of decades of misrule, corruption, and misguided policies.Everyone knows the statistics by now.Over 80% of the population is living in poverty.Millions cannot afford to put a simple meal on the table, let alone send their children to school or access basic healthcare.Unemployment is estimated at over 90%, with the majority of Zimbabweans forced into the informal sector—scraping a living through street vending, cross-border trading, and menial work.Many of our young people, unable to find meaning or hope in this broken country, are turning to drugs, prostitution, and petty crime.Even those who manage to secure formal jobs live hand to mouth, earning wages that are barely enough to cover transport, rent, or a bag of maize meal.Our hospitals are shells of despair, lacking medication, equipment, or even staff.Our schools are crumbling, with demotivated teachers and children sitting on bare floors, trying to learn without books, electricity, or food.We write about these things.We talk about them.But until you step outside Zimbabwe, until you visit a fellow African country, the full horror of our situation doesn’t truly hit home.We often compare ourselves with Western countries—places with centuries of development, strong institutions, and functioning systems—but that can seem abstract or unfair.What shook me to the core was a recent visit to Kenya, a country we used to see as lagging behind us in terms of development.I had travelled to Nairobi for the George Ayittey Society’s 2025 Annual Meeting and the Africa Liberty Forum, organized by the Atlas Network.What I witnessed in those few days opened my eyes to just how far behind Zimbabwe has fallen.And it hurt Deeply.Landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was in itself a revelation.Our own Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (RGMIA) may be newer and architecturally more impressive, but what use is a shiny building when barely any international airlines land there?In the two hours I spent at the RGMIA departure lounge before my trip to Nairobi, only two planes landed—one from RwandaAir and another from Kenya Airways.The tarmac was desolate.In stark contrast, JKIA was a hive of activity.Every few minutes, a new aircraft touched down or took off—from British Airways, KLM, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and others.The apron was filled with aircraft we haven’t seen in Zimbabwe for decades.That speaks volumes.International airlines don’t go where there is no economic activity.They don’t flock to countries with collapsing economies, unstable currencies, and unreliable systems.They go where there is opportunity, business, trade, and tourism.A busy airport is a symptom of a healthy economy—not an impressive terminal building.Walking through Nairobi was equally enlightening.I was in the company of my friend Rejoice Ngwenya, and one of the first things we noticed was the near-complete absence of money transfer agencies like Western Union, MoneyGram, and Mukuru.In Zimbabwe, these outlets are everywhere.They are lifelines for a population that survives primarily on remittances from family abroad.It’s not unusual to see longer queues at money transfer outlets than at banks.In Kenya, these are barely visible, because most people can sustain themselves.Their economy, though far from perfect, provides jobs and opportunity.People don’t need to rely on distant relatives just to eat or send children to school.Another striking observation was the absence of street vendors.In Zimbabwe, every major city, especially Harare and Bulawayo, has been overtaken by vendors selling anything from tomatoes to secondhand clothes.Entire pavements are impassable.Shop entrances are blocked.Even those in formal employment resort to vending to supplement their meager earnings.In Nairobi, however, the streets were clean and orderly.Vendors were largely absent from the CBD.This was not a result of forced removals or oppressive policing—it reflected a functioning economy where people don’t have to scramble in the streets just to survive.The presence of multinational companies in Nairobi further hammered the truth home.One that particularly caught my attention was LonRho—an iconic name that literally stands for London Rhodesia.A company with such deep colonial ties to Zimbabwe no longer operates here.It packed up and left years ago.Yet in Kenya, it continues to thrive and has set up its headquarters.That is a damning indictment of the business environment in Zimbabwe.If a company that was literally born here has fled to more stable pastures, what does that say about our ability to attract and retain investment?Our factories lie idle, our shops close down every week, and even our most loyal local entrepreneurs are either giving up or relocating.Then there’s the issue of currency.In Kenya, people use their local currency with confidence.The Kenyan shilling trades at around KSh129 to the US dollar, but that doesn’t bother Kenyans.They trust their money because they trust their institutions.They trust the people managing their economy.In Zimbabwe, the opposite is true.No one believes in the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency.Not because Zimbabweans are irrational or unpatriotic, but because they’ve seen this story before—five failed currencies, hyperinflation, price distortions, and worthless savings.Even banks don’t have ZiG in their ATMs.It’s virtually unavailable on the market.The only reason the currency appears stable is because no one can get it, use it, or exchange it.No wonder most transactions are still done in US dollars, and even fuel stations refuse to accept anything else.If I had tried to exchange the ZiG I had in Nairobi, the bank staff would likely have laughed—not out of malice, but because the currency is virtually unknown and unrecognized outside Zimbabwe.That in itself is a powerful indictment of how little confidence even the global financial system has in our local money.This is the pain of living in a failed state.A country of immense potential, blessed with resources, educated people, and a rich history—reduced to a hollow shell by looters and liars.The ruling elite and their propaganda machinery may try to deny it.They may host press conferences to tout fake successes or blame sanctions and foreign conspiracies.But the truth is stubborn.It refuses to be silenced.You see it in our empty airports.You feel it in our streets.You experience it every time a parent cannot afford school fees or a patient dies due to lack of medicine.What Zimbabweans want is not grand speeches or flashy buildings.We want real development, honest leadership, and policies that put the people first.We want a functioning economy, free from corruption and built on transparency and merit.We want prosperity that can be felt in homes, not propaganda plastered across billboards or newspapers.Until that happens, the pain of living in a failed state will continue to haunt us—every day, with every breath.Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email:mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website:https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/Post published in:FeaturedRelatedThe Energy Crisis : Need to Re-look at the Energy MixIt’s so shameless for the Mnangagwa government to claim credit for houses built by private citizens
Tendai Ruben MbofanaThere is something deeply agonizing about waking up each morning to the painful reality that one lives in a failed state.To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on:https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08Zimbabwe, once a beacon of hope, admired as the “jewel of Africa,” has become a tragic case study of how a promising nation can be completely ruined by the very people entrusted with its stewardship.Under the long, disastrous rule of ZANU-PF—first under the late Robert Mugabe, and now under Emmerson Mnangagwa—the country has been run into the ground.Zimbabwe is no longer just in crisis.It is in collapse.Our economy is on life support, struggling to breathe under the heavy weight of decades of misrule, corruption, and misguided policies.Everyone knows the statistics by now.Over 80% of the population is living in poverty.Millions cannot afford to put a simple meal on the table, let alone send their children to school or access basic healthcare.Unemployment is estimated at over 90%, with the majority of Zimbabweans forced into the informal sector—scraping a living through street vending, cross-border trading, and menial work.Many of our young people, unable to find meaning or hope in this broken country, are turning to drugs, prostitution, and petty crime.Even those who manage to secure formal jobs live hand to mouth, earning wages that are barely enough to cover transport, rent, or a bag of maize meal.Our hospitals are shells of despair, lacking medication, equipment, or even staff.Our schools are crumbling, with demotivated teachers and children sitting on bare floors, trying to learn without books, electricity, or food.We write about these things.We talk about them.But until you step outside Zimbabwe, until you visit a fellow African country, the full horror of our situation doesn’t truly hit home.We often compare ourselves with Western countries—places with centuries of development, strong institutions, and functioning systems—but that can seem abstract or unfair.What shook me to the core was a recent visit to Kenya, a country we used to see as lagging behind us in terms of development.I had travelled to Nairobi for the George Ayittey Society’s 2025 Annual Meeting and the Africa Liberty Forum, organized by the Atlas Network.What I witnessed in those few days opened my eyes to just how far behind Zimbabwe has fallen.And it hurt Deeply.Landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was in itself a revelation.Our own Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (RGMIA) may be newer and architecturally more impressive, but what use is a shiny building when barely any international airlines land there?In the two hours I spent at the RGMIA departure lounge before my trip to Nairobi, only two planes landed—one from RwandaAir and another from Kenya Airways.The tarmac was desolate.In stark contrast, JKIA was a hive of activity.Every few minutes, a new aircraft touched down or took off—from British Airways, KLM, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and others.The apron was filled with aircraft we haven’t seen in Zimbabwe for decades.That speaks volumes.International airlines don’t go where there is no economic activity.They don’t flock to countries with collapsing economies, unstable currencies, and unreliable systems.They go where there is opportunity, business, trade, and tourism.A busy airport is a symptom of a healthy economy—not an impressive terminal building.Walking through Nairobi was equally enlightening.I was in the company of my friend Rejoice Ngwenya, and one of the first things we noticed was the near-complete absence of money transfer agencies like Western Union, MoneyGram, and Mukuru.In Zimbabwe, these outlets are everywhere.They are lifelines for a population that survives primarily on remittances from family abroad.It’s not unusual to see longer queues at money transfer outlets than at banks.In Kenya, these are barely visible, because most people can sustain themselves.Their economy, though far from perfect, provides jobs and opportunity.People don’t need to rely on distant relatives just to eat or send children to school.Another striking observation was the absence of street vendors.In Zimbabwe, every major city, especially Harare and Bulawayo, has been overtaken by vendors selling anything from tomatoes to secondhand clothes.Entire pavements are impassable.Shop entrances are blocked.Even those in formal employment resort to vending to supplement their meager earnings.In Nairobi, however, the streets were clean and orderly.Vendors were largely absent from the CBD.This was not a result of forced removals or oppressive policing—it reflected a functioning economy where people don’t have to scramble in the streets just to survive.The presence of multinational companies in Nairobi further hammered the truth home.One that particularly caught my attention was LonRho—an iconic name that literally stands for London Rhodesia.A company with such deep colonial ties to Zimbabwe no longer operates here.It packed up and left years ago.Yet in Kenya, it continues to thrive and has set up its headquarters.That is a damning indictment of the business environment in Zimbabwe.If a company that was literally born here has fled to more stable pastures, what does that say about our ability to attract and retain investment?Our factories lie idle, our shops close down every week, and even our most loyal local entrepreneurs are either giving up or relocating.Then there’s the issue of currency.In Kenya, people use their local currency with confidence.The Kenyan shilling trades at around KSh129 to the US dollar, but that doesn’t bother Kenyans.They trust their money because they trust their institutions.They trust the people managing their economy.In Zimbabwe, the opposite is true.No one believes in the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency.Not because Zimbabweans are irrational or unpatriotic, but because they’ve seen this story before—five failed currencies, hyperinflation, price distortions, and worthless savings.Even banks don’t have ZiG in their ATMs.It’s virtually unavailable on the market.The only reason the currency appears stable is because no one can get it, use it, or exchange it.No wonder most transactions are still done in US dollars, and even fuel stations refuse to accept anything else.If I had tried to exchange the ZiG I had in Nairobi, the bank staff would likely have laughed—not out of malice, but because the currency is virtually unknown and unrecognized outside Zimbabwe.That in itself is a powerful indictment of how little confidence even the global financial system has in our local money.This is the pain of living in a failed state.A country of immense potential, blessed with resources, educated people, and a rich history—reduced to a hollow shell by looters and liars.The ruling elite and their propaganda machinery may try to deny it.They may host press conferences to tout fake successes or blame sanctions and foreign conspiracies.But the truth is stubborn.It refuses to be silenced.You see it in our empty airports.You feel it in our streets.You experience it every time a parent cannot afford school fees or a patient dies due to lack of medicine.What Zimbabweans want is not grand speeches or flashy buildings.We want real development, honest leadership, and policies that put the people first.We want a functioning economy, free from corruption and built on transparency and merit.We want prosperity that can be felt in homes, not propaganda plastered across billboards or newspapers.Until that happens, the pain of living in a failed state will continue to haunt us—every day, with every breath.Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer
Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email:mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website:https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/Post published in:Featured
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Zimbabwe, once a beacon of hope, admired as the “jewel of Africa,” has become a tragic case study of how a promising nation can be completely ruined by the very people entrusted with its stewardship Under the long, disastrous rule of ZANU-PF—first under the late Robert Mugabe, and now under Emmerson Mnangagwa—the country has been run into the ground Zimbabwe is no longer just in crisis
Our economy is on life support, struggling to breathe under the heavy weight of decades of misrule, corruption, and misguided policies Everyone knows the statistics by now Over 80% of the population is living in poverty Source: The Zimbabwean
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Source: Thezimbabwean
