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‘The curious case of Bubi’s 27 voters’; By-elections voter apathy raises questions

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Bongani Ndlovu, a Zanu PF councillor in Matabeleland North’s Bubi district holds the unenviable record of registering the least number of voters in the March 26 parliamentary and local government elections.

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Only 27 people voted for Ndlovu to represent Bubi’s ward six, the official tally of the council by elections released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) showed.

His closest rival Benjie Mpofu of the newly formed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) garnered a meagre nine votes.

According to ZEC, ward six had over 500 registered voters when the by-elections were held and the number of people who turned up to vote for the new council showed a serious voter apathy.

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In an almost similar situation, only 209 people out of a possible 709 in Victoria Falls turned out to elect the new councillor for war one.

A statistical analysis of the voter turnout in the March 26 by elections by the Zimbabwe Independent  in collaboration with the Information for Development Trust (IDT) –a non-profit organisation that supports journalists in Zimbabwe and in the region to investigate issues of corruption in the public sector and bad governance –showed that the Bubi and Victoria Falls scenario demonstrated a national trend of massive voter apathy in the by-elections.

There were 28 parliament seats and 122 local government vacancies that were up for grabs as the county held its first by-elections since the 2018 polls following a ban on polls due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

Analysis of the by-election results backed by research by the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI) showed that there was a 37 percent decline in the number of people that turned out to vote in the by-elections in Matabeleland North compared to those that cast their ballots in the 2018 polls.

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Binga North was the only constituency in the province where there was a high voter turnout after 20 000 people cast their ballots to choose the new MP.

The ZDI analysis showed that the opposition recorded a bigger decline in the number of people who voted for its candidates as the CCC candidates got 38 percent less votes compared to what the MDC Alliance garnered in the 2018 elections.

MDC Alliance was the country’s largest opposition party in the 2018 polls, but was eclipsed by the three-month-old CCC in the by-elections.

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Zanu PF saw a 21 percent decline in the number of voters who backed its candidates in the by-elections compared to the previous elections.

“Zanu  PF improved its performance in Matabeleland North during the 2022 by-elections from the 2018 elections as shown by a 10% increase from 37% in 2018 to 47% in 2022 whereas CCC remained static (48%) between 2018 and 2022,” ZDI said.

“The winning margin of the opposition in these areas is decreasing.”

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The research showed that voter apathy characterised the by-elections in all the country’s 10 provinces with Harare registering a staggering 66 percent decline in voter turnout and Bulawayo 75 percent compared to the 2018 elections.

Voter turnout in the general elections, which were the first since the ouster of long-time ruler Robert Mugabe in a military coup a year earlier, was 75 percent.

Carol Mubita, a Matabeleland North based election observer, said worsening voter apathy showed that people were losing faith in political leaders given the state of the economy and their failure to deliver on election promises.

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“This is why in Bubi only 37 people voted. I was there before the by-elections and the mood was that even if they vote they will remain stuck in poverty,” Mubita said.

“Politicians have failed the people they represent, and the unemployment levels continue going up.”

Pedzisayi Ruhanya, a Harare based academic and political analyst, said the reasons why Zimbabweans were not turning out to vote ranged from interference in electoral processes by security forces, waning confidence in ZEC and the opposition’s limited mobilisation capabilities.

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Ruhanya cited political violence blamed on the ruling Zanu PF ahead of the March by-elections and moves by security forces to stop the opposition from campaigning for the poor turnout.

“You find them through Zanu PF storming a CCC rally and as such, one individual was killed in Kwekwe,” he said.

“Then you see that in Gokwe again where we saw the deployment of violent police with water cannons and again in Marondera where the police stopped a meeting of the CCC.

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“So, there is an unholy alliance used by Zanu PF as the security apparatus in which the military and police work as the commissariat of Zanu during the elections

“When you look at voter turnout that affected the numbers because these people are intimidating the electorate.”

Wes Beal, a member of Pachedu, a group that has been exposing the poor state of the voters roll and other electoral malpractices on social media, believes that although questions around ZEC’s credibility could result in people losing confidence in the electoral system, voter turnout during by-elections is always very low compared to general elections.

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“ZEC hasn’t released the number of votes cast (to date), but that said, turnout is always lower in by-elections compared to the national elections the world over,” Beal said.

There were widespread reports of people that were turned away from polling stations because they had been moved to different stations without their knowledge.

Zimbabwe’s voter roll is polling station based. ZEC was also accused of surreptitiously moving polling stations.

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Ruhanya said ZEC’s conduct disenfranchised voters.

Beal said people also lose confidence in the electoral system because of poor performances by elected representatives.

Zimbabwe will hold general elections next year and ZEC is already working on the delimitation of constituencies.

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Inside the ‘bondage’ of Zimbabwe’s contract tobacco farming

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BY LINDA MUJURU

Zimbabwe’s tobacco sector was once on the brink of collapse. Now, it’s booming again. Last year alone, it earned the country close to US$1 billion in revenue.

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But though the crop is one of the country’s top exports and production has soared, small-scale contract farmers say they see little profit due to restrictive financing agreements.

The tobacco boom, farmers say, is keeping them in debt.

Gift Ngoma is among them. When he lost his clerk job eight years ago, tobacco farming was the only way he could feed his family. But fertilizer, seeds and labor proved expensive. Even money from the few cows he sold wasn’t enough.

Like many rural Zimbabweans, he’d gotten land — about 3.5 hectares (9 acres) — through traditional tenure. But those who secured land that way often lack a title deed. For Ngoma, formal credit was out of the question.

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Ngoma knew of local farmers who had entered agreements with private companies. The deals looked good at first: Each planting season, a company provided farmers with seeds and fertilizer on credit. They’d offer technical support throughout the season. In return, farmers sold enough of their crop to the company and used part of the revenue to cover what they owed.

Ngoma signed on with Premium Leaf Zimbabwe, a subsidiary of Premium Tobacco — a global company headquartered in Dubai.

The company provided him with seeds and some money for labor. Once harvest came, he sold enough tobacco to the company to pay off his debt. But over time, he says, this agreement came to feel like a trap. The seeds and other inputs are overpriced, he says, and there’s little money left over to find true success as a farmer.

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Thin rewards

More than 100,000 small-scale tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe have entered into contracts with tobacco companies, according to data from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, a statutory body that oversees tobacco production in the country.

The contracts — heavily financed by companies such as British American Tobacco and Tian Ze (China Tobacco) — now support over 95% of Zimbabwe’s tobacco production.

The five largest importers of Zimbabwe’s raw tobacco are China, South Africa, Mozambique, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.

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But smallholding farmers don’t feel that success. In December 2024, the government announced plans to issue title deeds to beneficiaries of the land reform program, which would give farmers a chance to use their land as collateral and rely less on contract farming. But for now, many still rely on tobacco contracts.

“We are in a cycle of oppression,” Ngoma says. “There is poverty in contract farming. It’s as if we are laborers on our farms.”

When Global Press Journal reached out to Premium Leaf Zimbabwe for comment, they said it was the company’s policy to “protect the privacy of our farmers and operational integrity.” Tian Ze and British American Tobacco did not respond to several requests for comment.

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The land link

Zimbabwe’s shift to contract farming has roots in a wider story of land reform.

At independence in 1980, white Zimbabweans — who made up less than 2% of the population — controlled nearly half of all agricultural land. The majority black population was confined to degraded, overcrowded communal areas.

In 2000, then-President Robert Mugabe launched the controversial Fast Track Land Reform Programme. The government redistributed millions of hectares of land from about 6,000 large, white-owned farms to more than 168,000 black-owned farms, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

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The reforms were rushed, controversial and violent, but they brought a new agrarian structure. Tobacco, at the time one of the most valuable crops and dominated by white-owned farms, shifted to small-scale operations by the new landowners.

But the new generation of farmers didn’t have access to traditional bank credit since they didn’t hold deeds to their land. Tobacco production dropped dramatically, from over 197,000 tons in 1998 to about 44,000 tons in 2006.

Farmers needed support, and into the vacuum stepped contract schemes, mostly by Chinese agribusinesses such as Tian Ze. They supplied seeds, fertilizers and technical support in exchange for crop guarantees, price control and access to global markets. Ultimately, those contracts played a key role in the post-reform tobacco boom.

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‘We continue to be dependent’

Contract schemes now dominate Zimbabwe’s tobacco farming, says Emmanuel Matsvaire, acting chief executive officer of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board. In the 2024-25 season alone, the board recorded a total of 106,555 small-scale growers, he says, and about 89% of these are contract farming. In the 2025 season, the board licensed 43 companies to contract tobacco farmers.

The country’s economy has long struggled and “local financing is generally limited,” Matsvaire says. These companies fill the gap.

But farmers say the fine print works against them.

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Seeds and fertilizer are overpriced, Ngoma says. For half a hectare, he receives seven bags of fertilizer for US$65 each. At the shops, the same bag costs about US$40. Many farmers don’t have ready cash to buy directly from shops, so they rely on private companies to provide fertilizer and other inputs, even if it means paying more when harvest comes.

“Because of poverty, we continue to be dependent,” Ngoma says.

Once contract farmers pay back the debts, very little is left. In some cases, the total earnings don’t even cover the debt, Ngoma says, which forces them to grow tobacco for the same company the next season.

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The companies control the whole process, including land use, Ngoma says, adding that at times they bring in agricultural experts who dictate seed types, planting times and farming methods, completely disregarding local farming knowledge.

Peter Neshumba, 36, began contract farming for Premium Leaf Zimbabwe in 2024. He says these companies go as far as controlling whether farmers can plant anything else. They want full devotion for their crops, he says. “Until harvest, the land essentially belongs to them.”

If a farmer doesn’t stick to the rules, the company might refuse to buy their crop or leave them without a contract the next season, he says.

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A contract analyzed in a 2023 study in Oikos, a journal published by Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University, shows just how tobacco contracts lock small-scale farmers into risky debt. The 2019-20 Tian Ze contract required farmers to repay loans before seeing any profit, even requiring some to put their property on the line as collateral.

Undoing land reforms

These arrangements undermine Zimbabwe’s land reforms, says George Seremwe, the president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association. The reforms were meant to redress colonial imbalances, but contract farming introduces new vulnerabilities for small-scale farmers as they cede control of their land to contracting companies.

But Nelson Marongwe, an independent land expert who has researched tobacco farming and land rights, doesn’t think so. The contracts are valid, he says, and address a production gap.

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But it needs to be for a limited period, he says, as there is a risk of farmers losing autonomy and companies abusing their bargaining power.

‘I feel used’

The tobacco board is trying to make these arrangements fairer to farmers, Matsvaire says. The government is implementing a framework to ensure farmers receive a fair share of profits, receive inputs in time and aren’t burdened with overpriced or substandard inputs. The framework will also set a minimum input package for farmers.

Matsvaire adds that this farming season, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has mandated that tobacco farmers retain 70% of their earnings, in US dollars to protect them from exchange-rate losses.

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But Ngoma says other issues, like land control and alternative financing methods, still need to be addressed.

One solution, Marongwe, the land expert, says, is to secure rural land rights for all farmers, which would expand access to other financing options.

Seremwe says farmers need fairer terms, but the solution is not to abandon contract farming, since the country needs the foreign investment.

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Despite the challenges, Neshumba plans to keep contract farming. He doesn’t have financing alternatives. When he started, he hoped for better returns. “Now that I’m in it,” he says, “I feel used.”

For farmers like Ngoma, the goal is self-financing.

“Contract farming,” he says, “is a bondage.”

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The story was originally published by the Global Press Journal 

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Government discord over tinted vehicle directive

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BY WANDILE TSHUMA

In a surprising turn of events, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman, George Charamba, has dismissed a recent directive mandating the removal of tinted windows from vehicles across Zimbabwe, labeling it as lacking legal grounding and urging the public to disregard it.

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Charamba, who is currently accompanying the president in China, issued this clarification on Wednesday, distancing Mnangagwa’s office from the controversial announcement made by Tafadzwa Muguti, the Secretary for Presidential Affairs and Devolution.

“Kindly note: There is no basis in fact or law to the accompanying announcement attributed to Secretary Muguti. Kindly ignore this miscommunication from an unauthorized office and officer!” Charamba stated on X, further attaching a video of Muguti.

Muguti’s original directive, announced during a press conference in Harare on Tuesday, required all private and public motorists to “immediately” strip their vehicles of tinted windows due to a purported increase in crime involving obscured vehicles.

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The announcement notably exempted government and VIP transport, as well as vehicles manufactured with standard shades of tint.

The directive quickly sparked confusion, as previous laws do not impose an outright ban on tinted windows. Statutory Instrument 129 of 2015 mandates that windows must provide “a clear, undistorted vision” and a “safe degree of visibility,” indicating that there are conditions under which tints are permissible.

Legal experts have raised concerns over the authority and validity of Muguti’s statement, cautioning that the police could engage in unlawful actions if they attempted to enforce the measure. Lawyer Obey Shava emphasized, “Police should be careful not to make costly decisions based on a statement which is not fully supported by the law. Tint is allowed on condition certain requirements are met,” as reported by ZimLive.

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Zimbabwe road traffic fatalities rise to 20 amid recent accidents

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BY STAFF REPORTER

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has confirmed that the death toll from recent road traffic accidents has tragically escalated to at least 20 individuals in the past few days. This surge in fatalities has raised serious concerns regarding road safety across the nation.

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In a statement released today, the ZRP detailed a fatal accident that occurred early this morning at the 246-kilometer peg along the Mutare-Masvingo Road, near Mutendi Complex. A Dragon bus, carrying 20 passengers and traveling from Beitbridge to Mutare, collided with a haulage truck while attempting to overtake. The bus driver swerved back into his lane upon noticing an oncoming vehicle, resulting in a devastating sideswipe that caused timber from the truck to pierce into the bus. Eight people, including the bus driver, died at the scene, and four others were injured in the crash. The injured were transferred to Masvingo General Hospital for treatment.

The ZRP emphasized the alarming trend of road accidents in their statement, noting

that these incidents were predominantly caused by reckless overtaking. “Most of the accidents recorded recently have been due to overtaking errors on the part of drivers,” police officials stated. “We urge all motorists to exercise extreme caution and adhere strictly to traffic regulations.”

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This latest accident follows another tragic incident on August 28 involving a Toyota Fortuner GD6 at the 46-kilometer peg along the same road. The vehicle veered off the road and hit a concrete signpost, resulting in four immediate fatalities. This number subsequently rose to six as two more victims succumbed to their injuries after being admitted to Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital.

Additionally, on August 29, a separate accident on the Harare-Nyamapanda Road claimed the lives of seven family members when a kombi they were traveling in lost control during an overtaking maneuver, resulting in an overturn that killed five instantly and two more in the hospital.

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