Tendai Ruben Mbofana
The recent and sudden leap in fuel prices across Zimbabwe is not merely an economic adjustment.
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It is a calculated and cold-blooded assault on a population that has long been gasping for air.
As of 20 March 2026, the price of a single litre of petrol has reached an astronomical US$2.17.
To the ordinary Zimbabwean—the mother trying to find transport to work, the small-scale farmer watching his margins evaporate, or the student staring at rising bus fares—this number is a death knell for their meager survival.
What makes this situation truly egregious is the undeniable fact that this crisis is not entirely a product of global forces or the volatile conflicts in the Middle East.
It is a manufactured catastrophe, sustained by a government that appears more interested in the enrichment of its inner circle than the survival of the 80 percent of its citizens living below the poverty line.
For weeks, the official narrative has sought refuge behind the shield of geopolitical instability.
We are told that the rising cost of crude oil and the disruptions in international supply chains are to blame for the pain at the pump.
Yet, a cursory glance at the math reveals a much darker reality.
While global oil prices have indeed seen an uptick, the actual Free on Board cost—the price of the fuel before it even touches our borders—sits at approximately US$1.09 per litre.
How then do we bridge the massive gap to the US$2.17 charged to the consumer?
The answer lies in a parasitic tax regime and a rigged distribution network that the state has aggressively expanded.
Only two weeks ago, taxes and levies accounted for 52 cents of the US$1.71 petrol price.
Today, the government has quietly and shamelessly increased its take to 86 cents per litre.
This is a staggering jump that defies economic logic and moral decency.
While the world faces a genuine energy crisis, the Zimbabwean authorities have chosen this moment to tighten the noose around the necks of their own people.
If this administration truly cared for the suffering masses, they would have followed the precedent they themselves set during previous crises.
We have seen this government swiftly scrap import duties on basic commodities and cement when local prices became untenable or shortages loomed.
Why then do they drag their feet now when fuel—the very lifeblood of the entire economy—is at stake?
The reluctance to lower these taxes suggests a deliberate policy of strangulation.
When the cost of fuel rises, a domino effect ripples through every sector of society.
The price of bread, milk, and mealie meal does not just stay static; it climbs in lockstep with the cost of transportation.
For a nation where the majority struggle to afford even the most basic necessities, such an increase is a direct threat to food security and social stability.
Yet, the state remains unmoved, stubbornly clinging to its 86-cent cut as if it were a sacred entitlement rather than a predatory levy.
However, focusing solely on taxes ignores the most insidious part of this equation.
The “Zvigananda”—the well-connected business elites who operate in the shadows of power—have a direct and suffocating interest in the fuel supply and distribution sector.
These individuals and their corporate vehicles stand to make a massive windfall from these absurd increases.
By controlling the procurement process and dominating the retail chains, these cartels ensure that even when global prices fluctuate, the profit margins for the “connected” remain untouched.
We are witnessing a system where the state uses its regulatory power to guarantee a profit for a select few while the rest of the country sinks into penury.
The high pump price is not just a revenue stream for the treasury; it is a transfer of wealth from the pockets of the poor to the bank accounts of the politically shielded fuel moguls.
It is impossible to discuss the fuel industry in Zimbabwe without addressing the ethanol monopoly that continues to hold the nation at ransom.
The mandatory ethanol blending policy is a glaring example of institutionalized greed.
While global ethanol prices remain significantly lower, Zimbabweans are forced to pay premium rates for locally produced ethanol, priced at an exorbitant US$1.10 per litre.
This rate exists only because a single entity enjoys an unchallenged monopoly over production.
Why is the government so determined to protect this monopoly at the cost of the entire economy?
The answer is clear.
These are the people being prioritized by the state.
The enrichment of the ruling elite and their business associates appears to be a higher priority than the ability of an ordinary worker to afford a commuter omnibus fare.
The mask of “pro-poor” rhetoric has finally slipped to reveal a face of pure, unadulterated self-interest.
There is a growing and justified suspicion that the government is riding on the chaos of the Middle East conflict to fill its coffers for political ends.
As the discourse surrounding constitutional amendments and the extension of term limits intensifies, one cannot help but notice the timing of this massive revenue grab.
Is the suffering of the Zimbabwean people being used as a convenient fund-raising mechanism for the Zvigananda, who are believed to be bankrolling the ruling elite’s plans to amend the supreme law of the land for their own self-serving benefit?
It seems the pump has become a primary taxation tool, not for the development of the nation, but for the preservation of power.
In any functioning democracy that values its citizens, the government would have moved with lightning speed to buffer the public from such a shock.
They would have slashed the debt redemption levy, reduced the strategic reserve levy, and lowered the excise duty to ensure that the economy does not grind to a halt.
Instead, we have witnessed a government that watches with calculated indifference—or perhaps cynical satisfaction—as the price of petrol nearly doubles the regional average.
In neighboring Botswana and Zambia, consumers pay significantly less for the same product, despite facing similar landlocked challenges.
The disparity is not a matter of geography; it is a matter of governance and the unchecked greed of the supply chain cartels.
The current trajectory is unsustainable.
A government that treats its citizens as a captive market to be milked for every cent is a government that has lost its moral compass.
By prioritizing the profits of ethanol moguls and predatory fuel dealers over the survival of the poor, the authorities are effectively declaring war on the livelihoods of the people they lead.
The 86 cents that the state takes from every litre is more than just a tax; it is a confession of their misplaced priorities.
Until there is a genuine commitment to transparency and a significant reduction in these predatory levies, the claim that this administration cares for the suffering people will remain a hollow and insulting lie.
The people of Zimbabwe deserve a government that serves them, not one that survives by bleeding them dry at the pump to line the pockets of the Zvigananda.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. To directly receive his articles please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
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