Zimbabweans are not ungrateful, Mr. Chivayo, we just refuse to praise mediocrity

Tendai Ruben Mbofana

The spectacle of an opposition Member of Parliament receiving a brand-new luxury SUV and a cool US$50,000 from a controversial “tenderpreneur” is the ultimate indictment of the current state of Zimbabwean politics.

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To the casual observer or the social media cheerleader, the gifting of a Toyota Fortuner to Budiriro North MP Susan Matsunga by Wicknell Chivayo might look like a harmless act of “recognition” for supposed political maturity.

However, for those of us committed to social justice and resource accountability, this is not philanthropy; it is political capture of the most cynical kind.

There is no such thing as a “good faith” donation of this magnitude in exchange for political praise.

It is a bribe wrapped in a ribbon, and it serves as a glaring slap in the face to the struggling residents of Budiriro who remain trapped in a cycle of poverty while their representative is “sponsored” by an individual whose wealth is inextricably linked to the very state tenders that have failed to deliver for the masses.

The “Wicknell angle” in this saga is dangerously simple.

​Chivayo is a man whose fortune is built on controversial government contracts—from the infamous Gwanda Solar Project, which saw millions in taxpayer funds vanish without a single kilowatt of power being added to the national grid, to the more recent ZEC-Ren-Form scandal.

In that case, investigations by South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) revealed that the Zimbabwe Ministry of Finance paid over R1 billion to the South African firm Ren-Form for vastly inflated election materials.

From that payment, more than R800 million—roughly 80% of the contract value—was then funneled from Ren-Form to Chivayo’s business bank accounts as ‘agent fees.’

This circular flow of public funds, which ultimately saw millions land in Chivayo’s business accounts, is the very reason why an MP’s oversight is so critical—and why taking a gift from the beneficiary of such a system is a total betrayal of that duty.

When such an individual begins bankrolling the personal lives of parliamentarians, the foundation of our democracy begins to crumble.

An MP’s primary constitutional mandate is to provide oversight and hold the executive and its associates to account.

By accepting this gift, Matsunga hasn’t just been “blessed”; she has been compromised.

She can no longer effectively investigate or question a system that has just provided her with personal luxury.

This is the privatization of public funds for the purchase of political loyalty, ensuring that the people responsible for oversight are too busy counting their “donations” to speak up for the taxpayer.

To understand why this was so easy for Matsunga, one must look at the decimation of the opposition since the 2023 elections.

The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) was hijacked by Sengezo Tshabangu, a self-styled interim secretary general who, with the apparent complicity of the Speaker of Parliament and the courts, systematically recalled elected officials.

Those who remained in the August House were no longer beholden to the voters who put them there; they became beholden to the threat of recall.

Tshabangu’s actions—failing to field candidates in by-elections and supporting the extension of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term through Constitutional Amendment (No. 3) Bill, CAB3—have paved the way for a ZANU PF two-thirds majority they failed to win at the ballot box.

In this environment, there is effectively no opposition left to talk about.

Matsunga, like many of her colleagues, is operating in a vacuum of accountability where survival depends on alignment with the ruling establishment rather than the needs of the constituency.

This brings us to the core of the issue: the weaponization of “development.”

Chivayo’s post on X praises Matsunga for her “political maturity” in thanking the President for drilling boreholes.

Let us be clear: no one in Zimbabwe is against development.

Every Zimbabwean deserves a decent livelihood and modern infrastructure.

However, we must never mistake mediocrity for progress.

It is a tragedy of our times that an urban MP is being showered with luxury for praising the drilling of boreholes in a metropolitan area.

Urban residents in Zimbabwe should expect running tap water in their homes, a standard that was inherited at independence but has been eroded by decades of failure at both local and central government levels.

To celebrate a borehole in 2026 is not to celebrate development; it is to celebrate regression.

We are being asked to cheer as our cities are turned into rural backwoods.

The Mnangagwa administration and its “benefactors” often mistake criticism for negativity.

It is not.

We are critical because we refuse to celebrate mediocrity when we know exactly how rich this country is and what we are capable of achieving.

We know that with equitable distribution of our vast mineral wealth, every home in both urban and rural areas could have running water.

We know that our hospitals should be equipped with cancer and dialysis machines at the district level, and our schools should be hubs of technology and science, not crumbling shells where students lack basic textbooks.

We know that our roads should be conduits of commerce, not death traps for our vehicles.

This is the standard we expect and the standard we deserve.

When we see the President being praised for the bare minimum, we see a betrayal of the national potential.

Why should we praise the Second Republic for boreholes when the primary duty of a government is to ensure the functional delivery of basic utilities?

The optics of this “donation” reveal the staggering disconnect between the rulers and the ruled.

While Susan Matsunga drives away in a brand-new 4×4, the mothers in Budiriro North will still be queuing for hours at those very boreholes, carrying heavy buckets of water to their homes.

She gets the US$50,000; they get the “privilege” of manual labor for a basic human right.

This is the “Vision 2030” that Chivhayo hashtags so enthusiastically—a vision where the elite are rewarded for their “maturity” (read: silence) while the masses are told to be grateful for the crumbs of a failing infrastructure.

The tragedy of the Zimbabwean situation is that the very institutions meant to protect the poor have been turned into marketplaces.

When an MP accepts a vehicle from a tenderpreneur, they are signaling that their voice has a price.

Matsunga’s “Deepest Gratitude” to the President is a transaction, not a sentiment.

It is a chilling reminder that in the current political landscape, the representative has become a brand ambassador for the system they were elected to challenge.

The residents of Budiriro, who braved long lines to vote for change, have been sold out for a SUV and a wad of cash.

Ultimately, this saga is a masterclass in how to dismantle a democracy from the inside out.

By using “donations” to soften opposition voices, the state and its proxies ensure that there is no one left to ask the hard questions about where the money for the Gwanda Solar Project went, or why our referral hospitals are still struggling despite “refurbishments.”

It creates a culture of transactional loyalty where “integrity” is defined by how well you can praise the hand that feeds you.

As long as we continue to celebrate these “gifts” as philanthropy, we will continue to suffer under the weight of mediocrity.

We must demand a higher standard.

We must refuse to be thankful for boreholes in our cities while our representatives are bought with the luxury that our own taxes should have provided for the public good.

The struggle for Zimbabwe is not just about who sits in the State House; it is about reclaiming the soul of our public institutions from those who believe that everything, including our representatives, is for sale.

• 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