A DANGEROUS shift is taking place in our politics. We are witnessing the rise of the politics of the stomach — a system where votes are not won with ideas, but bought with desperation.
This culture of patronage, growing ever more prominent under the second republic led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is not a solution to our nation’s crises. It is the cause of their deepening problems.
In a blatant attempt to win over the urban vote, we see a frantic distribution of hampers and promises of boreholes. Meanwhile, businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, with reported ambitions of high political office, has spent over US$21 million on brand new cars for Zanu PF party officials. This is not generosity; it is an investment. And the returns he will expect are not measured in gratitude, but in political influence and control.
At a time when our country is battling economic collapse, food shortages and crumbling public services, such spending is obscene. It reveals a twisted set of priorities.
How can a political party find millions for hampers and luxury vehicles, yet fail to find the will to stabilise the economy for everyone?
This is the weaponisation of poverty. It is a strategy that cashes in on people's desperation. A hungry person is not thinking about policy, job creation or the future of the nation.
They are thinking about their next meal. By offering a hamper today, these politicians are ensuring we remain hungry tomorrow. They are not creating a conducive environment for citizens to thrive on their own. They are creating a nation of dependents.
The politics of the stomach is a dead end. It makes us lazy. It kills creativity and ambition. Why strive for more when a hand-out is dangled before you?
- Mr President, you missed the opportunity to be the veritable voice of conscience
- ED to commission new-look border post
- Zanu PF ready for congress
- EU slams Zim over delayed reforms
Keep Reading
More dangerously, it creates a culture of bootlicking and hero worship. Leaders who thrive on patronage do not deliver real services. They do not have to.
They know that the people they patronise will be less likely to hold them accountable. Why would you bite the hand that, however occasionally, feeds you?
Under this system, corruption thrives. Democratic institutions collapse because they are starved of integrity.
The security sector can become compromised. Leaders become unaccountable and untouchable, paving the way for dictatorship.
It is a system designed to keep a small group in power, while the majority remains poor and powerless.
Zanu PF may think this patronage is a clever strategy. But it will backfire. An economy built on hand-outs, not production, is destined to collapse.
A citizenry that awakens from its stupor will remember who kept them in chains, not who gave them a temporary meal.
We must see these hampers and cars for what they are: bribes. They are the price tag placed on our dignity and our children’s future.
We must reject this toxic politics, and demand leaders who will build a functioning economy, not one that runs on favours and hand-outs.
