WE WILL NOT CLAP FOR FAILURE IN ZIMBABWE

Something is very wrong in Zimbabwe. The government is celebrating something that should never be celebrated. They are happy because Zimbabwe has been named the fifth-largest economy in the region. But what they do not say is that Zimbabwe used to be the second-largest country in sub-Saharan Africa, after South Africa. Now we are number five, and they are smiling about it. This is what failure looks like when it is dressed in lies.

The International Monetary Fund has given new figures. According to their 2024 numbers, South Africa is number one with a GDP of four hundred billion dollars. Angola is second with one hundred and fifteen billion. Tanzania is third with eighty billion. The Democratic Republic of Congo is fourth with seventy-one billion. And Zimbabwe is number five. The government is excited about this, as if we have achieved something big. But this shows how far we have fallen.

In the past, Zimbabwe was known as the breadbasket of Africa. We had industries, we had jobs, and we had systems that worked. Many people from other countries came to Zimbabwe to find work and a better life. Today, Zimbabweans are the ones running away to other countries. Our young people are in South Africa, Botswana, the United Kingdom, and many other places trying to survive. This is not something to celebrate.

What is even more painful is that the leaders do not want to take responsibility. They pretend this is progress. They act like being number five is better than being number two. They forget that Zimbabwe used to have strong industries in Bulawayo, Harare, and Mutare. Our factories produced goods for the region. Now many of those factories are closed. We import simple things like tomatoes and onions. How can a country that once exported food now celebrate being a buyer of food?

ZANU PF has destroyed this country. They have destroyed the dreams of millions of Zimbabweans. Instead of building industries and creating jobs, they focus on power, corruption, and lies. They steal elections, silence people who speak the truth, and abuse state resources. Now they want us to clap because we are number five.

Let us not forget what we lost. We once had working hospitals, clean cities, and stable money. Today our hospitals have no medicine. Our teachers are underpaid. Our roads are full of potholes. Our money is not trusted. The Zimdollar is a joke. And still, the leaders find reasons to celebrate.

They use GDP figures to confuse the people. But GDP means nothing to someone who sleeps hungry. It means nothing to a young graduate with no job. It means nothing to a mother who gives birth on the floor because there are no hospital beds. Real progress is not in numbers. Real progress is in people’s lives. And the truth is, life in Zimbabwe is hard.

We should not be fooled. The celebration is not for us. It is for the corrupt leaders who keep benefiting while the rest suffer. They want the world to think things are improving. But we know the truth. It is on the streets, in the homes, and in the clinics. Zimbabwe is not working.

Let us speak up. Let us tell the world that we are not proud of being number five. We want to work, eat, and live in peace. We want a government that serves the people. Until then, we must not celebrate. There is nothing to celebrate when a government celebrates failure. We refuse to clap for our own pain. We refuse to accept lies as progress. We demand change now, together.