Source: Schneider Electric launches initiative for Zimbabwean youth – herald Sifelani Tsiko Fact Check Editor Global energy technology firm Schneider Electric and the Schneider Electric Foundation have launched the Energy Transition Innovation Challenge – an initiative designed to equip Zimbabwe’s youth with the skills, knowledge and opportunities required to participate in and lead the country’s […]
Global energy technology firm Schneider Electric and the Schneider Electric Foundation have launched the Energy Transition Innovation Challenge – an initiative designed to equip Zimbabwe’s youth with the skills, knowledge and opportunities required to participate in and lead the country’s energy transition.
This initiative was launched in Ruwa and forms part of Schneider Electric’s global Youth Education and Entrepreneurship (YEE) programme, which focuses on developing future-ready skills in the energy transition and fostering inclusive economic growth.
The two – year Energy Transition Innovation Challenge will be hosted at the Ruwa Vocational Training Centre’s innovation hub and is expected to impact 9 000 young people, with 3 000 participants in its first year and a further 6 000 in the second.
This initiative prioritises inclusivity, targeting young people from underserved and rural communities to ensure that access to opportunity is equitable and far-reaching.
It also aligns with Schneider Electric’s broader ambition to empower three million young people worldwide by 2030 with access to education, training, and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Partners said the Energy Transition Innovation Challenge will be realised through a hybrid model combining digital learning and in-person training initially at the central innovation hub and similar hubs in the second year of the programme.
They also said it integrates Schneider Electric’s Energy Transition course, which forms part of the Get into Energy Transition curriculum, which equips participants with foundational skills and knowledge required to progress towards jobs in renewable energy.
It is supported with complementary content from UNICEF’s Futuremakers initiative that focuses on design thinking, entrepreneurship, and project management for inclusive economic participation.
“This Energy Transition Innovation Challenge will provide young Zimbabweans with the capabilities to thrive in today’s and the future’s energy landscape, while contributing meaningfully to sustainable development and economic resilience,” said Ravishka Jairam, Youth Education & Entrepreneurship Programme Leader at Schneider Electric.
“We look forward to working with The BOOST Foundation on this truly exciting initiative.”
Said Tinashe Mushonga, executive director, BOOST: “Through this partnership with Schneider Electric Foundation, we are creating an ecosystem where young people are not only equipped with green, technical and entrepreneurial skills, but are also empowered to become innovators, problem-solvers and job creators within Zimbabwe’s growing green economy.
“At BOOST, we believe that young people are central to driving sustainable development, and the Energy Transition Innovation Challenge provides a practical platform for them to transform ideas into impactful community solutions.”
The French energy technology firm Schneider Electric manufactures electrical distribution equipment, including transformers and switchgear, while the broader Zimbabwe business spans energy management, automation and digital infrastructure.
“This programme is about creating real, tangible pathways, moving from learning to doing, from ideas to implementation, and from potential to impact,” said Jaram.
Source: Environmental change in a fragile ecosystem: challenges after land reform in Zimbabwe | zimbabweland Continuing our investigation of environmental change, a further participatory discussion on land use and environmental change was undertaken with a group of 15 farmers from Clare and Lonely farms in Gutu district, consisting of both men and women. As in […]
Continuing our investigation of environmental change, a further participatory discussion on land use and environmental change was undertaken with a group of 15 farmers from Clare and Lonely farms in Gutu district, consisting of both men and women. As in Mvurwi (see here and here), our discussions began with what the term ‘environment’ means to them. Participants understood the environment as ‘zvinhu zvakatitenderedza’ (surroundings). These included trees, mountains, grasses, wetlands, soil fertility and so on. Interestingly, it was the first time in our discussions that soil fertility was mentioned, perhaps reflecting the dominance of sandy soils in this area. We asked what environmental changes the farmers have noted over time.
Participants noted a lot of environmental changes. “When we arrived in Lonely, there were a lot of wild animals, but today they have been depleted”, one male participant said. “In the past, those without cattle would use leaf litter to improve their soil fertility. But because trees are now fewer, leaf litter is no longer plentiful as in the past”, a male participant said. “When we arrived here, grasses were tall and plentiful, but now they are less so because of veld fires. Hunters are setting up fires when hunting hares”, a female participant declared.
But not all environmental changes are in one direction. As one female participant noted, “When we arrived here, were relied a lot on trees to build homes and for firewood, leading to cutting down of trees. But today, a lot of people have invested in good houses (brick and tin roof houses), solar systems and gas stoves, thereby reducing the demand for poles and firewood”.
And sometimes environmental changes are perceived differently by men and women, with reduced forest cover making it safer to walk in the area for women: “In the past, it was scary to walk alone because you couldn’t see very far as forests were thick. But today, you can see very far as trees have been cleared as people open up crop fields, roads and cut firewood”, a female participant declared.
Wetlands and sacred places
The Gutu farm landscape includes extensive sandy soils with wetland areas (vleis/dambos) interspersed. These wetlands in a largely dry landscape are important – for agriculture/gardening, grazing and for domestic water provision. Not surprisingly, they are well protected often through cultural assertions of sacredness.
A female participant from Lonely declared, “When we arrived here, white farmers had fenced sacred places such as wetlands (madekete) where it was believed that there was a njuzu. However, we destroyed those fencing thinking we were punishing the white farmer not knowing that we were punishing ourselves. We know these sacred places, and we encourage our kids not to play there as it’s dangerous. In Lonely we have one mountain which was sacred when we came here. That’s where rain-making ceremonies were held. However, because when we settled in these farms, masabhuku were never installed in our areas. This is where things went wrong. We only have chairpersons. Masabhuku attempted to take control of resettlement farms but they were unsuccessful up to this day. Here, we don’t have chisi for example. In the communal areas, they have chisi. In communal areas, if you don’t respect sacred places, you will be arrested and charged by the sabhuku. Here, people don’t respect sacred places at all.”
Similarly in Clare farm, a female participant agreed, “In Clare, we still respect sacred places. There is wetland (dekete) near our plot, and we know it’s a sacred place. We do not use black buckets to fetch water from there. The place was fenced when we arrived, but the wire was stolen by people from nearby communal areas. If cattle go into this place, it will sink and disappear for good. My neighbour’s cow once got stuck there, and was later slaughtered. The fence was all stollen by people from the nearby communal areas.”
Declining commons
In both farms, participants observed how common land had declined due to the encroachment of ‘outsiders’, with mostly communal area people blamed. The lack of control was attributed to changing governance arrangements due to a shifting politics in these areas.
A male participant from Lonely noted, “Commons are still there. However, we have problems with people from nearby communal areas. We are now sharing with people from nearby communal areas. These people graze their animals and cut trees in our commons. And you can’t stop them from accessing these places because we don’t have the powers to do so.”
Another male participant commented how the new political leaders were not as effective as ‘traditional’ leaders, such as the chief. “Our problem is that chairman is not as powerful as the sabhuku. The sabhuku is respected because he works with the chief. However, here all resettlement areas do not have chiefs”. As in many land reform areas, there has been contestation over chieftaincy claims in these areas. As one participant observed, “Some time ago, Chief Serima claimed that this was his area. But Chief Gutu came and said ‘no’, this is my area and it stretches to Shashe river. So, up to now we do not have a chief in our area.” This impasse, people reflected, was causing problems in managing the land.
Soil fertility declines
When people arrived in these areas during the land reform occupations, these farms were lightly used, with only limited areas of cultivation, as they were mostly used for extensive cattle production. When people cleared their fields in sandy soil miombo vegetation, the soils had relatively high levels of organic matter due to leaf fall and recycling over many decades. Like in most sandy soils, the fertility levels of mostly ‘virgin’ soils is soon lost through extraction of nutrients through cropping and loss through erosion and leaching. The result is that over 25 years, soil fertility has declined dramatically. This was noted by a number of participants. The decline of fertility is exacerbated by the lack of cash and high expense of inorganic fertilizers and the lack of manure especially due to the mass loss of livestock due to January Disease. Two women commented:
“I remember when we first came here, we used to have very good harvests. When we cleared and opened crop fields, our soils were very fertile. As time goes on, as we continued to cultivate the same area over and over again, our soils have become infertile. It no longer gives us good yields even of maize without the application of manure or fertilizers. Our yields have therefore decreased. Now the yields depend very much on whether or not you have access to financial resources to purchase fertilizers or cattle to provide manure”.
“The problem of soil fertility has been further worsened by the fact that our cattle died due to January Disease. Out of a head of 25 cattle, a household would be left with one head of cattle or none at all. Now it’s difficult to restock because cattle are now too expensive to buy because they are too few now. Cattle are now gold!”
Interpretation of land use and environmental change
The discussion then turned to the satellite maps and the four areas identified (1-3 below and the whole of Clare farm).
Area 1: Increase in crop fields and then decline by 2025 in Lonely. Cultivated areas steadily increased with a discernible decrease in forest area from 2004 to 2009. From 2009 to 2014, there was a decrease in cultivated and an increase in forests, a pattern that has continued, with variations in different places across the two farms. The participants explained that “people are now cultivating on their stands only”, and no longer cultivate outfields. Between 2009 and 2014, participants said that they were cultivating large areas because they needed income to educate their children, and these children were also an important source of labour. “We managed to educate our children and they went to universities. All these young people are now working in towns, and there are no young people here anymore. As a result, we no longer have labour. We therefore now cultivate in stands only. Nowadays, you will even struggle to get a young man to help you train a young ox for ploughing. They are gone! We are now old and no longer have power as was the case in the past”. Participants also said that at the time they had relatively larger cattle herds before the outbreak of January Disease. These herds were important for the provisioning of manure and draft power, but also affected how the landscape was being used, with heavy grazing in some places. Now this is no longer the case. The reduced intensity of use of the land since 2009 correlates with changes in socio-economic conditions and the demographic stage of households who occupied the land. This has had major implications for land use over the 25 years.
Area 2: Wetland areas decrease and reemerge again in Lonely. Participants noted the disappearance of wetlands in Lonely, and their resurfacing in 2025 because of good rains. They attributed this both to climate change and the practice of cultural norms (chivanhu). “In 2008/9, there was a drought, this is why it dried up, but the wetland has reemerged now thanks to the good rains in the last two seasons,” a male participant explained. Also, a woman observed, “This place is sacred. Some people tried to dig a well there, but bees came from nowhere and stung them…. There is a borehole there, but sometimes it just mysteriously stops functioning sometimes.” Wetlands, as already explained, are vital patches within the landscape, so are well protected, but their appearance/disappearance is regulated by the wider hydrological patterns, including patterns of rainfall as well as the wider management of the catchment. The decline in cultivation in the outfields and the decline in cattle numbers noted for Area 1 may be having a wider effect on water storage and flows, so affecting wetland areas.
Area 3 (corner Lonely, Maharape area also known ‘jambanja’): One participant noted the pattern of forest decline in this particular landscape patch. This was due to the settlement of a group of people around the elections of 2018: “That area was illegally occupied by people from nearby communal areas around 2018, leading to a decline in forests. However, these people were later evicted last year. These people were settled during elections as part of the campaign. This area is part of our grazing areas”. Political processes can affect who lives where and how the land is used, in this case concentrating deforestation in one area.
Area 4 (The whole of Clare farm): Forest decline before 2019 and increase subsequently in Clare. Changes in forest cover were attributed to changes in protection from outsiders through fencing on private ‘self-contained’ A1 farm plots. Investment in fencing and so the possibility of fencing after around 2019, reflecting increased accumulation from farming in the area, resulted in changes in forest cover, the group explained. “Prior to 2019, we had not fenced our plots. So, people in the neighbouring communal areas would come into our farms and cut firewood and sell at Rufaro AFM church. But now we fenced off our farms, making it difficult for these people to poach firewood in our farms. This explains why we see the increase in forest.”
The discussions in Gutu were very influenced by the particular ecologies of the area. The extensive sandy soils in this miombo landscape meant that soil fertility decline was a major focus for discussion. Lack of labour for managing soils and the decline in livestock numbers due to January Disease also affected soil fertility. Interspersed within this landscape are wetland patches, which people noted as being important both for livestock grazing and irrigated farming. The availability of such patches however varies dramatically over time due both to rainfall and other land use practices. This is a highly fragile environment requiring careful management, but – as in other areas – people complained about lack of effective land control. This was once again the result of political disputes, in this case particularly between different chiefly authorities.
This is the fourth in a blog series on land use and environmental change and was written by Tapiwa Chatikobo, Keen Marozva, Felix Murimbarimba and Ian Scoones. The blog first appeared on Zimbabweland
Source: It’s not over yet So they tell us that Parliament is debating the Constitution Amendment Bill, nr 3 of 2026. It will be interesting to see whether there is a real debate, since there has been none yet anywhere. Even in the ZANU-PF Congress debate was not welcome. The Bill was bulldozed through without […]
So they tell us that Parliament is debating the Constitution Amendment Bill, nr 3 of 2026. It will be interesting to see whether there is a real debate, since there has been none yet anywhere.
Even in the ZANU-PF Congress debate was not welcome. The Bill was bulldozed through without a debate; no reading of the Bill, no serious listening to different opinions, no vote, just the rowdy crowd we have got used to, shouting slogans to drown the voices of anyone who had thought about the proposals.
And it does demand serious thought; what is this Bill about? It is about taking away what little appearance of power we have as voters and taking away any limit on the power of the man in State House.
1) extending the terms of office of the President and parliament – which the Constitution says can only be done if it has been submitted to us as voters in a referendum
2) for the current president – which requires another referendum. The Constitution explicitly imposes this condition because if we should not trust even an angel from Heaven who wants to lengthen his own time in power.
3) depriving us of our power to elect the President, as if they are unsure of their ability to rig it next time.
4) allowing the President to appoint whoever he likes as a judge. The Consitution says the indepedent Judicial Service Commission must consult widely to select 3 candidates and submit their names to the President for him to choose one – as if bribing and bullying judges wasn’t enough to ensure they will never oppose the man at the top. This amendment says he will only need to “consult” the Legal Services Commission
5) allowing the President to appoint 10 more Senators
6) abolishing the Gender Commission and the Peace and Reconciliation Commission. Personally, I suspected from the beginning that the large number of Commissions was a ZANU ploy to make them unworkable by promising more than the Government can afford, but these two are among the most important and are needed now, possibly more than in 2013.
I will not repeat the other clauses of the Bill, which mainly tidy up details.
It is not too late for us to continue expressing our opinions on this Bill. We do not suffer from “election fatigue”: if they find rigging elections too tiring a task, we will let them take a rest
I do not think extending the time between elections would give officials any more time to do the jobs we elect them for: if electioneering has expanded to fill the 5 years between elections, is there any reason why it should not expand more to fill 7 years?
Even if it doesn’t, will that be enough for them to complete infrastructure projects some of which have been unfinished for up to 30 years?
It is good to see the retired generals who publicised their protest this week don’t think it is too late to stop this abuse of power. They are men who actually took up arms to fight for our independence. We hope that means they remember the ideals that drove them then. Meanwhile if you do remember, let’s start thinking how we go forward.
Government stopping destruction of houses in Stoneridge (admittedly that is just a pause until they decide what should be demolished to preserve wetlands) and its removal of Chinese illegal miners from Chimanimani are signs of hope. If we are loud and firm enough, they could back down again. These two examples are not the only ones; they are just last week’s news
Source: In Parliament This Week : CAB3 BILL WATCH 19/2026 Both Houses of Parliament will be sitting this week, and in this Bill Watch we outline the business both Houses are expected to deal with. Please bear the following points in mind: When the National Assembly and the Senate adjourn, they set down all outstanding […]
Both Houses of Parliament will be sitting this week, and in this Bill Watch we outline the business both Houses are expected to deal with.
Please bear the following points in mind:
When the National Assembly and the Senate adjourn, they set down all outstanding business on their order papers (i.e. their agendas) for the next appropriate sitting day. There is usually too much to be covered in one day so whatever is not dealt with is postponed to the next appropriate day.
Both Houses of Parliament can change the order in which they consider business.
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No 3) Bill (CAB3): When the National Assembly adjourned on Friday CAB3 was undergoing its Second Reading, and this will continue on Tuesday. The Assembly has suspended its standing orders to allow CAB3 to take precedence over all other business, so the Assembly will continue debating the Bill until it has been put to the vote at the end of its Second Reading. If, as seems likely, it passes that vote then the Assembly will probably resolve that the remaining stages of the Bill – the Committee Stage and Third Reading – should be taken immediately. [Note: that while the Bill can be passed by a simple majority at its Second Reading and Committee Stages, at its final Third Reading it must be passed by the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the membership of the National Assembly – which means that two-thirds of all the members of the Assembly must vote for it, not just two-thirds of the members who happen to be present in the House]
Many amendments have been proposed to the Bill, so the Assembly seems set to continue dealing with it all through the coming week. Nonetheless, we have listed the other business on the Assembly’s Order Paper in case the Assembly turns to other matters during the week.
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday 9th June
Bills to be dealt with:
The Assembly is expected to deal with the following Bills:
Consideration of the PLC’s adverse report on this Bill will continue.
Reports of constitutional and statutory bodies
The Assembly will deal with the following reports:
Reports by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on by-elections held in June, August, September and October 2025
Petitions received
The Assembly will consider reports on the following petitions:
Petition calling for review of laws relating to pensioners and senior citizens
Petition on dual administration in Hwange
Petition on measures to prevent and manage non-communicable diseases
Petition on the inclusion of women in traditional courts
Petition on community care-givers
Reports of parliamentary committees
The Assembly will deal with reports on the following topics:
2025 first and second quarter Budget Performance Reports of the Ministries of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and Skills Audit and the Public Service Commission
2025 third and fourth quarter Budget Performance Reports on the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development
2025 first and second quarter Budget Performance Reports of the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services
2023 financial statements of the Grain Marketing Board
2025 first, second and third quarter budget performance reports of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
2023 financial statements of the National Handling Services
The state of cultural and heritage sites in relation to tourism
2025 first and second quarter budget performance reports of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce
2023 financial statements of the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA)
2020 financial statements of Air Zimbabwe
Motions on the National Assembly order paper
Motions set to be debated by the Assembly will cover the following topics:
Reintegration and employment of ex-convicts
Measures to improve cultural creativity in Zimbabwe.
Implementation of the ban on export of unprocessed minerals
Development of a national open data policy
Measures to prevent vandalism of infrastructure and natural resources
Measures to provide equitable care and treatment of diabetes
The use of artificial intelligence in adjudication of government tenders
Review of employment tax (PAYE) brackets
Calling for a policy on unpaid domestic and care work
Wednesday 10th June
Note: On Wednesdays, questions and other private members’ business normally have precedence over government business in the National Assembly, but the Assembly will almost certainly continue debating CAB3.
Questions set down for answer
Subject to what we have said above, Ministers will be called on to answer questions in the National Assembly on the following issues amongst others:
Statistics on maternal and newborn deaths
Whether Covid-19 vaccinations caused development and growth disorders among children
Addressing the grievances of striking nurses
Protection of teachers and other civil servants who are in conflict with community members
Clearance of arrear payments under the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM)
Relocation of the staff of the Matabeleland North provincial government to Lupane from Bulawayo
Abuse and politicisation of government food aid
Protection of rape victims from being identified in the media
Votes for Zimbabweans in the Diaspora
Compensation for victims of political violence since 1980
Measures to ensure meaningful public consultation on constitutional amendments, and to safeguard the independence of constitutional commissions
Private sector funding for youth innovation hubs
Policies to address marginalisation of rural youths
Policies to address emigration of educated youths
Town status for Ruwa
Policy on conditions of service for senior employees of local authorities
Measures to allow access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation in high-density urban areas
Mechanisms for regular audits of service delivery in high-density urban areas
Lifting the moratorium on processing of applications for change of land use
Government policy on local authorities billing for water in local currency
Measures to ensure transparency and accountability in allocation of urban land
Payment of service charges to local authorities by residents who provide their own services
Government policy on allowing public access to minutes of urban council meetings
Whether local authorities are remitting their employees’ pension contributions to the Local Authorities Pension Fund
Water supply for Chitungwiza
Measures to ensure that retailers and industries remain in business
Strategies to end load-shedding by ZESA
Simplifying reporting of faults to ZESA
Reimbursement for persons who give ZESA copper wire to replace stolen wire
The cost of petrol and diesel fuel
Measures to prevent tourism degrading the environment in the Zambezi Valley, and to prevent poaching in the Valley
Re-registration of companies referred to in the Global Compensation Deed for compensating dispossessed farmers
The legality of the Ministry of Finance making payments directly to suppliers of goods and services
Oversight mechanisms applicable to the Mutapa Investment Fund
Measures to ensure that all State procurements are done lawfully
Measures to prevent service providers, e.g. local authorities, from using currency exchange rates other than the official rates
The protection of citizens, particularly low income earners, from hardship caused by the IMF staff-monitored programme
Ring-fencing of government social safety nets
The dispossessed farmers who have been compensated and the amounts paid to them
Government policy on people keeping large sums in cash
Management of public debt to ensure transparency and accountability and prevent over-burdening of future generations
Equitable distribution of national resources to marginalised regions
Compensation of individuals whose pensions and investments were eroded by hyperinflation
Revenue generated from sugar tax since 2024 and how it was disbursed
Negotiation of public-private partnerships without parliamentary approval
Construction and maintenance of roads, dams and other infrastructure
Vehicle access toll fees at Beitbridge border post
The average cost of constructing one kilometre of trunk road
Motor vehicle exemption tax
The time taken to register new vehicles
Government policy on using debt collectors to recover unpaid school fees
The establishment of schools in high-density urban areas for children with special needs
Statistics of girls dropping out of schools due to pregnancy
Government policy on CAMPFIRE
When the national soccer team will use local stadiums for international and regional matches
Beneficiaries of the agricultural inputs distribution programme
Support for small-scale farmers to access export markets
Conservation measures to address declining soil fertility
Measures for the welfare and empowerment of war veterans
Whether it is government policy to protect Zanu-PF members from arrest for crimes
Details of the contract entered into by the Government for the production of passports
Government policy regarding harassment of Zimbabweans in South Africa.
Thursday 11th June
The Assembly will continue with business left over from Tuesday and Wednesday – probably CAB3.
THE SENATE
Tuesday 9th June
[Note: The Senate will not consider CAB3 until it has been passed by the National Assembly.]
Bill to be dealt with:
The Senate is expected to deal with the following Bill:
Source: Zimbabweans facing harrowing slavery in Qatar as Mnangagwa regime turns a blind eye The hypocrisy is staggering. Tendai Ruben Mbofana Qatar boasts an elected seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2025 to 2027 term. If you value my social justice advocacy and writing, please consider a financial contribution to keep […]
Qatar boasts an elected seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2025 to 2027 term.
If you value my social justice advocacy and writing, please consider a financial contribution to keep it going. Contact me on WhatsApp: +263 715 667 700 or Email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com
This position carries an explicit, legally binding obligation to uphold and safeguard the highest global standards of human dignity.
Yet, beneath the polished veneer of Doha’s glittering skyscrapers and its hollow public relations campaigns about labor reform lies a dark, state-sanctioned reality.
For thousands of vulnerable African migrant workers, particularly Zimbabwean domestic workers, Qatar operates not as a land of economic opportunity, but as a predatory trap of modern-day slavery.
A devastating press release sent to me by the Human Rights Association (HRA) has pulled back the curtain on this institutionalized hypocrisy, documenting the horrific treatment of Zimbabwean women who were lured by predatory recruitment agencies, stripped of their documents, and subjected to unpunished abuse.
Their stories are a visceral reminder that the notorious kafala system—a sponsorship framework that binds a worker’s legal status entirely to their employer—remains alive, well, and deeply vicious in the domestic sphere.
Consider the case of Chiedza, a 27-year-old woman from Harare who traveled to Doha on the promise of a salary that could rescue her family from economic hardship back home.
Upon arrival, her passport was immediately confiscated by her employer.
For six months, Chiedza was subjected to unlawful confinement, forced to work from before dawn until past midnight, seven days a week, with absolutely no right to rest under the pretext that she owed a fictional recruitment debt.
After half a year of relentless labor, she received no wages.
When she desperately sought help from the Zimbabwean embassy, she was met with bureaucratic cowardice, told that diplomatic options were limited without the abusive employer’s cooperation.
Then there is Tinashe, a 32-year-old from Bulawayo, who faced severe physical violence inside a Qatari household.
When she attempted to escape the blows, she was threatened with immediate arrest and deportation as a runaway criminal.
While a civil society organization eventually managed to extract her from the country, Tinashe was forced to flee Qatar with no legal recourse, stripped of her stolen wages, and denied any semblance of justice.
She returned to Zimbabwe with nothing but the physical and psychological scars of state-sanctioned exploitation.
These accounts are not isolated incidents of rogue employers behaving badly.
They are the predictable, structural outcomes of a Qatari legal architecture designed to leave domestic workers completely defenseless.
Qatar explicitly excludes domestic workers from the protections of its national Labour Law.
This deliberate legislative blackout creates a dangerous vacuum of accountability, effectively granting employers total ownership over foreign women.
It is a legal environment that allows employers to extract up to 100 hours of work per week without a single day of rest, as extensively documented by Amnesty International.
Worse still, Qatar is actively moving to reverse the minimal labor reforms it previously trumpeted to the international community.
In 2024, the country’s Shura Council proposed reinstating the draconian requirement that forces migrant workers to secure their employer’s explicit permission before exiting the country.
This is a direct, unvetted attempt to solidify the chains of captivity, ensuring that an abused worker cannot even flee the country without the consent of her abuser.
The sheer hypocrisy of the Qatari state is entirely indefensible.
A nation cannot credibly sit on the UN Human Rights Council while maintaining a domestic legal framework that treats African women as disposable commodities.
The HRA and its Chairman, Saad Kassis-Mohamed, have rightly pointed out that Qatar’s continued exclusion of domestic workers from basic labor protections is completely incompatible with its international human rights mandates.
Doha has mastered the art of cosmetic diplomacy, announcing superficial kafala reforms to appease Western critics while leaving the most vulnerable workers entirely exposed to wage theft, physical assault, and forced confinement.
This crisis also demands a harsh, uncompromising mirror be held up to the Zimbabwean government and its diplomatic missions abroad.
It is an absolute travesty when a Zimbabwean citizen turns to her own embassy for protection against modern slavery, only to be told that the state is powerless against an abusive foreign employer.
Our foreign missions must stop acting as passive observers to the trafficking and exploitation of our people.
The Harare regime must stop hiding behind its nonsensical “friend to all and enemy to none” foreign policy doctrine—a cowardly stance that consistently sacrifices the safety of our people on the altar of diplomatic etiquette.
We see this same spineless abdication of duty in South Africa, where the government remains morbidly obsessed with preserving “cordial relations” with foreign capitals while its own citizens are subjected to relentless abuse and brutality abroad.
The protection of Zimbabwean lives abroad must be a non-negotiable foreign policy directive, not a bureaucratic afterthought.
The global community must demand immediate, systemic structural change from Qatar.
The Gulf nation must completely dismantle the kafala system in practice, not just on paper, and bring all domestic workers fully within the comprehensive scope of its national labor laws.
Furthermore, Qatari authorities must criminally prosecute, jail, and heavily fine employers who perpetrate wage theft, unlawful confinement, and physical violence.
Until Doha treats the abuse of African migrant workers as the heinous crime it is, its international human rights credentials are an absolute farce, and its seat on the UN Human Rights Council remains a profound stain on global justice.
