THE current situation in Zimbabwe is deeply troubling and unsustainable.
Long-simmering tensions between ordinary citizens and our so-called “all-weather friends”, the Chinese investors, have burst into the open, exposing the grim realities of reckless investment and weak governance.
For weeks, social media has been awash with disturbing videos of violent clashes, a vivid reminder of the growing mistrust and breakdown in relations between communities and investors.
These are not isolated incidents; they are part of a systemic crisis fuelled by dispossession, exploitation and state complicity.
At the centre of this conflict is a deep sense of injustice. Communities are being uprooted without consultation, grazing lands destroyed and livestock left to starve.
The environment is being ravaged, rivers polluted with toxic chemicals, mountains flattened and landscapes altered beyond recognition. This is not progress; it is plunder dressed up as development.
Worse still, the government, constitutionally bound to defend its citizens, is nowhere to be seen. The silence is deafening.
Instead, it acts as an enforcer for investors. When villagers dare to resist the invasion of their ancestral land, they are met not with protection but with arrests, intimidation and the iron fist of state security.
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The double standard is glaring. Could a Zimbabwean investor walk into China, seize land, poison rivers and terrorise communities with impunity? Absolutely not!
They would face the full weight of the law. Yet here, foreign investors act with impunity, emboldened by government silence.
We are not opposed to foreign investment. We recognise its importance. However, we demand that it must be responsible, ethical and sustainable.
Our minerals are finite; once they are extracted, they are gone forever. The current model invites a form of corporate strip-mining, where investors will inevitably leave a scarred and impoverished Zimbabwe in their wake, moving on to their next target.
We need long-term partnerships, not short-term plunderers. Investors must respect local laws, engage in genuine community consultation and implement rigorous environmental safeguards.
The government of Zimbabwe must urgently reclaim its role as the guardian of the nation.
It must prioritise the welfare of its citizens over the interests of a foreign power. This requires visionary leadership that plans for the future of its children, not for the enrichment of a select few.
The hypocrisy is glaring: we are told Zimbabwe’s sovereignty cannot be questioned by outsiders, yet the same sovereignty is surrendered daily to investors who strip the land bare. This betrayal cannot stand.
We, therefore, call for immediate reforms to hold all investors accountable.
Zimbabwe must never be reduced to a dumping ground for reckless, short-term profiteers.
The rights, dignity and future of our people are not for sale.
