Tendai Ruben Mbofana
There is a growing and painful realization among the people of Zimbabwe that we are a nation governed by an administration that has perfected the art of the broken promise.
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While our neighbors across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are demonstrating what it means to lead with empathy and economic foresight during a global crisis; our own leadership remains anchored in a state of stubborn indifference.
As the conflict in the Middle East continues to send shockwaves through the global energy market; pushing crude oil prices toward the stratosphere; the disparity between Zimbabwe and its regional peers has reached a level that is both unsustainable and morally indefensible.
It is a tale of two philosophies; one that seeks to shield its citizens from the harsh winds of global volatility and another that sees every crisis as an opportunity to further bleed a struggling populace dry.
The numbers do not lie; and they tell a story of systemic neglect.
As of April 2026; Zimbabwe stands as a lonely and expensive outlier in a region where every other government has found the decency to intervene.
In Zambia; the authorities have taken the bold and necessary step of suspending excise duty and zero-rating Value Added Tax on petrol and diesel.
They understand that a fuel hike is not just a burden on the motorist; it is an inflationary fire that consumes the purchasing power of the poor.
Namibia has followed a similar path of compassion; implementing a fifty percent temporary reduction in fuel levies to cushion its consumers.
South Africa; despite its own fiscal challenges; has moved to slash its general fuel levy by a significant three Rand per liter to offset the impact of international crude price hikes.
Botswana and Lesotho continue to utilize stabilization funds and levy relief to keep their pump prices within reach of the ordinary person.
In these countries; the average price of fuel is hovering around the one dollar and fifty cent mark; yet their governments still believe that is too high for their people to bear.
They have looked at the suffering of their citizens and decided that the state must absorb some of the pain.
Contrast this with the situation in Zimbabwe; where we are currently the only country in the region forced to purchase fuel at prices exceeding two dollars a liter.
With petrol sitting at two dollars and seventeen cents and diesel at two dollars and five cents; the Zimbabwean consumer is paying a premium for the privilege of being governed by a heartless elite.
It is a cost burden that is suffocating local industry; making it impossible for our businesses to compete with regional peers who benefit from much lower energy inputs.
When fuel prices rise in Zimbabwe; everything rises—the cost of a commute to work; the price of a loaf of bread; and the school fees for our children.
What makes this situation particularly galling is the memory of a promise made only two weeks ago.
When the prices first breached the two-dollar mark in mid-March; the authorities were quick to issue statements promising “deliberate actions” and “interventions” to lower the burden on the public.
We were told that the government was monitoring the situation and would implement measures to cushion the transport and manufacturing sectors.
Yet; as we enter the first week of April; those promises have evaporated like morning mist.
There has been no tax relief; no suspension of the carbon tax; and no reduction in the myriad of administrative levies that account for nearly eighty-six cents of every liter we buy.
The government has essentially told us that they lied; or at the very least; that our suffering is not a priority that warrants immediate action.
This reluctance to act reveals the true character of the current administration.
This is not a government that is failing because of external factors or “sanctions”; it is a government that is actively choosing to maintain high taxes to sustain a parasitic system.
A significant portion of the fuel price in Zimbabwe is composed of taxes and levies that serve no purpose other than to line the pockets of the treasury and its associates.
While our neighbors slash taxes to help their people; the Zimbabwean government clings to them with a death grip.
One must ask why a country with such high poverty levels refuses to lower the carbon tax or the strategic reserve levy.
The answer is found in the dark corridors of the “Zvigananda”—the ruling elite and their business proxies who own the fuel stations; control the importation of petroleum; and hold a vice-like monopoly over ethanol production.
The mandatory blending of petrol with ethanol is perhaps the most glaring example of this institutionalized greed.
We are forced to buy a product where the ethanol component; produced almost exclusively by a single entity with deep political ties; is often priced higher than the landed cost of the petrol itself.
This is not about energy independence or “green fuel” initiatives; it is about a guaranteed revenue stream for the few at the expense of the many.
Every time a Zimbabwean motorist fills their tank; they are not just paying for fuel; they are paying a tribute to a cartel that has captured the state.
The refusal to lower fuel costs is a calculated decision to protect the profit margins of these oligarchs while the rest of the nation sinks into despair.
This economic cruelty is happening against a backdrop of a disturbing political narrative.
We are being asked to support a push to unconstitutionally extend the current administration’s grip on power.
The justification given is that they need more time to “finish their programs.”
If the “programs” they are referring to involve the total impoverishment of the Zimbabwean people and the enrichment of a select few; then they are indeed making great progress.
However; the truth is clear for all to see.
These people are not interested in finishing any developmental programs; they are interested in finishing our national resources.
They want to stay in power to continue the plunder; to ensure that the monopolies remain intact; and to keep the tax revenue flowing into their private vaults.
A government that truly cared about “finishing its programs” for the benefit of the people would have followed the lead of Zambia or Namibia.
It would have recognized that a hungry and immobile population cannot build a nation.
Instead; we have an administration that watches as public transport fares double and basic commodities vanish from the reach of the poor; all while they plot how to bypass the constitution to stay in office.
They want us to believe they are the architects of our future; yet they are the very ones dismantling it; piece by piece; through their insensitivity and greed.
The people of Zimbabwe are tired of being the regional sacrificial lamb.
We are tired of paying the highest prices for the most basic of commodities while our leaders live in a bubble of luxury; fueled by the taxes they refuse to cut.
If this government truly had a heart; it would have acted weeks ago to fulfill its promise.
The fact that it hasn’t tells us everything we need to know.
We are on our own; and as long as this elite is more concerned with their grip on power than the price of a liter of fuel; our suffering will only continue to deepen.
The “programs” they want to finish are nothing more than a blueprint for our collective hopelessness.
- 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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