ZANU PF CRACKS DOWN ON DISSENT AHEAD OF SADC SUMMIT
The Zimbabwean government is showing its true colours once again as it launches a ruthless crackdown on dissent ahead of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit set for Harare next month. In what appears to be a desperate attempt to maintain a façade of stability before regional leaders arrive, authorities are violating basic human rights, suppressing freedoms, and violently silencing citizens.
This summit carries enormous political weight for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime. The SADC election observer mission publicly rejected Zimbabwe’s 2023 general elections as flawed. Now, Mnangagwa and his inner circle are scrambling to clean up their image before their peers arrive. The regime is spending millions on roads, luxury villas, hotels, and buses to impress foreign leaders—while ordinary citizens endure poverty, poor health care, and joblessness.
But infrastructure upgrades are not the only things being “polished.” The government is also trying to erase any signs of public frustration or protest. Today, the Zimbabwe Republic Police violently disrupted a peaceful meeting of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) at the ZESA National Training Centre. Around 60 students had gathered for a General Council meeting when police stormed the venue at 10am, brutally assaulting several and arresting others. Some were taken to Harare Central Police Station. Their only crime? Exercising their constitutional rights to free assembly, association, and expression.
This is not an isolated case. Arbitrary arrests and harassment have become a daily reality for many Zimbabweans. On 16 June, former minister and opposition MP Jameson Timba and 78 others were arrested in Avondale, Harare, for holding a simple braai to commemorate South Africa’s Soweto Uprising. No protest. No violence. Just a symbolic gathering. Yet the state treated it as a threat.
Opposition figures continue to suffer under this oppressive regime. Job Sikhala, a prominent opposition leader, spent 595 days in prison on trumped-up charges of inciting public violence. Though a magistrate convicted him, the High Court recently threw out the case, including a second conviction under a repealed law. Sikhala had done nothing wrong, but ZANU PF used the courts to punish him anyway—sending a message to all who dare to speak out.
The recent passing of the so-called “Patriotic Act” has further deepened fears. This law, an amendment to the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, criminalizes criticism of the government and imposes severe penalties on activists and dissenters. It’s a blatant attempt to tighten the noose on civic space, silence opposition voices, and create a legal framework for repression.
Freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly are rights enshrined in Zimbabwe’s constitution. Yet under Mnangagwa’s leadership, these rights have become theoretical. They are ignored in practice—especially during elections, and now, as the SADC summit approaches. Instead of showcasing progress, the summit preparations have revealed the government’s obsession with image management at the expense of justice and democracy.
The international community is watching. Observers, donors, and human rights organizations are closely monitoring how Zimbabwe behaves in these critical weeks. Will the regime continue to deploy violence and fear? Or will it uphold its legal obligations and respect the dignity of its people?
Zimbabwe stands at a crossroads. The regime’s current path—marked by fear, repression, and political theatre—will only invite further scrutiny and isolation. It may succeed in temporarily suppressing protests, but the anger of the people will not disappear. Silencing citizens today does not erase their pain or their desire for change.
As the SADC summit draws near, one thing is clear: ZANU PF fears the people more than it respects them. And a government that fears its citizens has already lost the moral authority to govern.
