ELECTIONS OVER LIVES: ZANU PF’S DEADLY PRIORITIES EXPOSED

As Zimbabwe lurches toward yet another round of by-elections set for February 3, a dark cloud hangs over the country’s conscience. This is not just about voting. It’s about a government that repeatedly chooses political theatre over the survival of its people. In a nation gasping under economic pressure, with collapsing hospitals and death-trap roads, the ruling party has once again decided that maintaining its grip on power is more important than saving lives.

The decision to pour millions of public funds into this electoral spectacle has rightfully triggered outrage. At a time when clinics lack painkillers, ambulances run dry of fuel, and nurses flee the country for better prospects, ZANU PF believes elections are the top priority. It’s not just short-sighted—it’s criminal. Instead of resuscitating our dying healthcare system or patching up roads that swallow cars whole, the regime is staging another performance in its tired one-party playbook.

This is not a democracy. This is a dictatorship wrapped in the illusion of choice. These by-elections aren’t a celebration of people power—they are an expensive illusion meant to reinforce ZANU PF’s dominance. That much is clear to anyone watching closely. The political strategy is as old as the regime itself: spend public money to maintain political control, while hospitals go dark and potholes deepen into death traps.

Every dollar spent on this electoral circus could have gone to stock life-saving medicines or repair rural bridges that isolate entire communities. Instead, we see empty promises backed by hollow ballots. In rural clinics, mothers are turned away with sick children because there are no antibiotics. Meanwhile, posters of candidates litter the streets, printed with the ink of taxpayers’ suffering.

This is a government that governs for itself. It has consistently placed politics above people, elections above infrastructure, and power above progress. ZANU PF has mastered the art of appearing busy with governance while achieving absolutely nothing for the ordinary citizen. And these by-elections are the latest proof of that betrayal.

The cost of these elections is not just monetary—it’s human. It’s the life lost in a hospital with no working equipment. It’s the schoolchild injured on a collapsed bridge. It’s the small business owner whose goods never make it to market because the roads are too dangerous. This is the real price Zimbabwe pays for ZANU PF’s obsession with political theatrics.

And make no mistake—the people see through it. There is a growing storm of anger among citizens who are tired of being spectators in their own democracy. The frustration is boiling over, and rightly so. The government’s decision to waste precious resources on political games while basic services disintegrate is not just a policy failure—it’s a moral one.

As we approach February 3, we must ask ourselves what kind of nation we want to be. One that continues to fund the ambitions of a few while millions suffer in silence? Or one that demands accountability, demands dignity, and demands a government that serves its people?

This moment should be a turning point. A time to stop normalizing failure. A time to stop applauding electoral rituals while the nation bleeds. A time to say enough is enough. Zimbabwe does not need more by-elections. It needs leadership. It needs healing. And it needs a government that remembers that its primary duty is not to itself—but to the people.