Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation

Political Smoke Screen

Details: Written by: Tarisai Stella Mapondera; Published: 03 June 2025; Last Updated: 21 June 2025; Hits: 594

Parirenyatwa Makeover or Political Smoke Screen? The Truth Behind the Belarus Agreement.

What seems like help on the surface can sometimes be a mask for greed, corruption, and misplaced priorities.

During President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s recent state visit to Belarus, a bilateral agreement was signed for the renovation of Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare. On paper, it sounds like a long-overdue solution to Zimbabwe’s crumbling healthcare system. But let’s be honest, this deal is not as noble as it’s being made to appear.

The truth is, this agreement raises far more questions than answers.

Let’s not forget: Parirenyatwa Hospital was once one of the finest on the continent, back when it was known as Andrew Fleming Hospital during the colonial era. It was well-resourced and well-run, albeit for the exclusive benefit of the white minority. Today, the same hospital lies in shambles. Ceilings are caving in, there are holes in the roof, wards lack basic medication, and essential machines for dialysis and cancer treatment often sit broken for months.

In this context, the Belarus deal might look like a lifeline. But let’s stop and ask the obvious question:

Why do we need Belarus to renovate our hospitals?

Zimbabwe is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources, gold, diamonds, platinum, lithium, chrome, coal, the list goes on. Yet we continue to act like beggars in our own land, depending on struggling foreign states to fix problems we could solve ourselves. The government constantly claims there's no money for hospitals, schools, or basic infrastructure. Yet billions are spent on luxury vehicles, presidential jets, useless fire trucks, and overpriced machinery we didn’t ask for. There’s money, but it’s being hoarded by a greedy elite who live in obscene comfort while the rest of us are left to suffer.

We have builders, contractors, skilled workers, everything we need right here in Zimbabwe. But the government refuses to empower our own people. They’d rather sign secretive deals with foreign agents, where millions are skimmed off the top by well-connected middlemen, than create jobs and opportunities for ordinary citizens. Just look at what happened with the infamous Belarus fire tender deal. Councils were forced to buy fire trucks at three times the international market rate, without a tender process. The money was deducted from their devolution funds, even though what communities really needed were ambulances, clinics, and roads.

No Talent within the Regime

Details: Written by: AI Sourced Report GROK3 and 'Questionmaster' John Burke; Published: 27 March 2025; Last Updated: 27 March 2025; Hits: 984

We asked:

From a purely management ability and civic administration view point, is there any real 'talent' within the current (or recent past) Zimbabwe, Zanu PF regime, that could demonstrably claim to have led the nation to any basis of success on any internationally recognized governmental/civic/economic metric?

GROK3 Research Provided insights

GROK3 {AI Deep Research} Source Link

Assessing the management ability and civic administration talent within the current or recent ZANU-PF regime in Zimbabwe, particularly under Emmerson Mnangagwa’s leadership since 2017, requires a focus on measurable outcomes tied to internationally recognized governmental, civic, and economic metrics. These might include GDP growth, human development indices (HDI), governance indices (e.g., World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators), corruption perception (e.g., Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index), and civic administration effectiveness (e.g., service delivery, infrastructure development, or poverty reduction). The question is whether there is demonstrable "talent" within the regime that has led to success in these areas.

Zimbabwe’s economic performance under ZANU-PF has been consistently poor by international standards.

Since Mnangagwa took power, the economy has faced severe challenges, including hyperinflation, currency instability, and a GDP per capita that remains among the lowest in the region—estimated at around $1,774 in 2023 (adjusted for purchasing power parity, per World Bank data).
While the regime introduced the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency in 2024 to stabilize the economy, its impact remains uncertain, and inflation has historically eroded public trust and economic gains.
The agricultural sector, once a regional strength, has not recovered to pre-2000 levels following the Fast-Track Land Reform Program, with food insecurity affecting over 5.5 million people in 2023-2024 due to drought and policy failures.

These outcomes suggest a lack of effective economic management talent capable of reversing decades-long decline.

On governance and civic administration, Zimbabwe scores poorly on international metrics. The World Bank’s Governance Indicators for 2022 rank Zimbabwe in the bottom 10-20% globally for rule of law, control of corruption, and government effectiveness.
Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index gave Zimbabwe a score of 24 out of 100 in 2023 (where 0 is highly corrupt), placing it 157th out of 180 countries.
Public services, such as healthcare, sanitation and water supply, have deteriorated, with recurring cholera outbreaks—7,000 cases and 100 deaths reported by October 2023—highlighting administrative failures.
Infrastructure development, a stated priority under Mnangagwa’s “Vision 2030,” has seen some projects (e.g., road rehabilitation), but progress is slow and heavily reliant on foreign loans, particularly from China, rather than domestic capacity or innovation.
Read more: No Talent within the Regime

5th March 2025 Report of the Day

Details: Written by: John Burke; Published: 05 March 2025; Last Updated: 05 March 2025; Hits: 890

Clear Voting Booth for Block chain - Since it is fully private and anonymous With Zimbabweans arriving from Scotland, Newcastle, Stockton-on-Tees, Leeds, Wakefield, Leicester, Nottingham there was a very much 'Northern' flavour to the day. However the good showing {again} from the contingent from CCC Southend provided some 'balance' but in practice it was all a very much friendly affair - we even enlisted a couple of visitors to the Zimbabwe Embassy to agree with our aims - whilst they waited for the timid Embassy Staff to open their doors - we presume because a group of free thinking Zimbabwean were outside.

Again, this time a well dress CIO emerged from the Embassy to scuttle off to MacDonalds!

We have added this write up of our Demonstration and Petition handover, to our web section called "Mismanagment" as that fits well with the target of our 'complaint' regarding the desperate need for Electoral Reform - that being ZEC - the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. A sub-set of a {normal} government tasked with organsising the full voting process - from registration, to counting the votes and declaring the winner.

Unfortunately ZEC fails of every metric possible - for their Electoral Mis-management - due in large part to being subservient to the ruling regime {illegal -as it has no electoral mandate based on votes actually cast} - namely Zanu PF. The party tasked by Robert Mugabe to effect a One-Party-State in Zimbabwe since before the 18th April 1980! Mugabe, and now Mnangagwa are communist inspired zealots - who shun, ignore and debase all democratoic norms. The

Indeed revelations by deepseek and GROK3 {two powerful AI based Research aids} both confirm the catalogue of democratic failure within and without Zimbabwe. see this article which explores the cladestine interplay between the supposed Zimbabwean revolution, and the British MI6: Zim History Post Independence 1 of 2 articles

Furthermore within our petiton {CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OR READ THE PETITION as SUMBITTED} we aver that Zimbabwe is not a democracy - in fact very far from a democracy - as this deep reseach below expertly reveals. This is why Zimbabwe needs to be re-cast a democracy - as promised back in the days before 18th April 1980. See our current Flickr Photo Log of the day with a few videos as well. FLICKR 5th March 2025

Milton Bingwa's Article Introducing the Blockchain Voting Practicalities

Milton Bingwa's article which was published to coinside with our Electoral Reform Petition to the UK PM. In addition, this will also be forwarded to the FCDO, Commonwealth Secretariat, and the UN

""A History of Electoral Fraud; Zimbabwe’s political landscape has been dominated by Zanu PF for over four decades, with recent elections under President Emmerson Mnangagwa doing little to convince critics that real democracy has taken place.""""Blockchain technology offers a unique approach to voting that could address many of these issues head-on. The technology is decentralised, transparent, and immutable, meaning that once a vote is cast, it cannot be altered or erased and the ledger is public for anyone to view, which provides full transparency. This could make it nearly impossible for the ZEC or Zanu PF to manipulate election results.""

Petition Extracts

""Radical Electoral Reforms: Key Components and Success Factors: Diaspora Voting Rights;
Why It Matters: Over 900,000 {or as many as 2-5 million!} Zimbabweans live abroad, many driven by economic necessity, yet they are denied voting rights despite their constitutional entitlement under Section 67. Including them could shift electoral outcomes, given their significant remittances ($340.5 million surplus in 2022) and potential opposition leanings.""

Estonia has been using blockchain technology in its elections for years, offering a secure and transparent voting system. Switzerland’s city of Zug, known as Crypto Valley and has also tested blockchain voting at a municipal level. Even in Africa, Sierra Leone trialled blockchain to audit its 2018 elections, showing that the technology can work on the continent.These examples prove that blockchain voting is not just a futuristic dream but a viable option that could transform Zimbabwe’s electoral process. It offers a way to restore public trust, which has been eroded by decades of mismanagement and corruption and voter intimidation. SOURCE: Link Here and HERE from the Financial Times re Estonia

But at this time, and for the last 45 years Zimbabwe has never been a Democracy: https://x.com/i/grok/share/caXZunRTBl9Dava0tz21b3yYn

Your supposition, as articulated by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation (ZHRO), that there is little evidence of Zimbabwe being a democracy under Emmerson Mnangagwa’s leadership aligns with a significant body of observable data and analysis, particularly when viewed through the lens of the detention statistics we’ve explored and broader political dynamics. Let’s evaluate this systematically, considering key democratic principles—free and fair elections, rule of law, freedom of expression, and protection of human rights—against the evidence from Mnangagwa’s term (November 24, 2017, to March 1, 2025).

One Party Mentality

Details: Written by: John Burke; Published: 19 February 2025; Last Updated: 19 February 2025; Hits: 1004

AI - DeepSeek via Perplexity

Access to DeepSeek AI [Using non Chinese Servers]Note

The Question posed to this new AI Service: "Why is Zimbabwe's Government so corrupt and intent upon looting the nation? What could be done by local opposition and global political pressure?"

Zimbabwe's government has long been accused of widespread corruption and looting of national resources, contradicting official narratives that often blame economic challenges on external factors like sanctions.[1] The reasons for this entrenched corruption are complex and multifaceted:

1. Lack of accountability
Zimbabwe's Prosecutor General recently estimated that the country is losing $1.8 billion annually due to corruption, describing it as a major barrier to economic recovery. This massive sum bleeds the economy of revenue meant for sustainable development and improving citizens' lives.[1] The lack of strong prosecution systems for corruption cases allows this to continue largely unchecked.[1]

2. Patronage networks
Corruption has become institutionalized within Zimbabwean social systems, creating a patronage system where allegiance to leadership is rewarded with immunity from prosecution. This has normalized corrupt practices across many levels of society and government.[3]

3. Exploitation of natural resources
The president has been accused of enriching himself through gold and diamond smuggling networks and using his power to protect criminals facilitating these illicit markets.[4] Former officials have claimed that even when presented with evidence of diamond revenue looting, top leadership refused to act, dismissing concerns.[5]

4. Weak institutions and rule of law
The political elite has developed an elaborate system to protect their power and access to resources through security apparatus and legislation that shields them from public scrutiny. This has created an environment where access to political power significantly influences success in other socio-economic spheres.[3]

5. Economic instability
The nature of the state changed considerably during economic crises, leading to the emergence of more authoritarian governance and domestic tyranny. This shift allowed for increased corruption and abuse of power.[3]

6. Lack of transparency
Government officials have been accused of various corrupt practices, including bid-rigging for contracts, misallocation of foreign exchange, overpricing by connected suppliers, abuse of company resources, and false expense claims. Efforts to investigate and publicize these issues have often been suppressed.[2]

7. Impunity for high-level officials
Top government officials have been accused of using violent repression, election fraud, and intimidation tactics to maintain power. This includes allegations of deploying security services to silence dissidents and political opponents through kidnapping, torture, and other human rights abuses.[4]

The combination of these factors has created a deeply entrenched system of corruption that has proven difficult to dismantle, despite its devastating effects on Zimbabwe's economy and its citizens' well-being.

Citations:

Please Note: the term AI {Artificial Intelligence} is a misnomer. What these system do is a very sophisticated web search of the available information. So if the information is corrupted, misleading or even a false agenda - it would still be included. AI cannot {as yet} differentiate such issues.

Worse still is the Globalist Agenda to classify all "Government Posted Information" as the "Truth" {!! I kid you not!!} and "Alternative Sources" - Suspect. This issues is very much in evidence when using AI to ask about Climate Change/Emergency, Greenhouse Effect, Fossil Fuels, Covid 19 Vaccination Efficiacy etc etc. These are all Theories with Altenative Theories, equally supported by empirical evidence - and in many cases BETTER supported by Empiricle evidence

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