Zimbabwe’s Way Out Is Not in a Person. It’s in Our Principles.

By Lloyd [Last Name], Leadership Coach & Advocate for Value-Centered Change

For far too long, Zimbabwe has been stuck in a loop politically, socially, spiritually. The faces at the top may change, the slogans may shift, but the script remains the same. We cycle through crises, cling to charismatic individuals, and wait for a hero to lead us out of the chaos. And every time, we are left disappointed, disillusioned, and divided.Whether it was Mugabe, Nkomo, Sithole, Tsvangirai, Chamisa, Khupe, Mawarire, Geza, or now Mnangagwa and his comrades, we have elevated personalities rather than principles. We have mistaken charisma for character and noise for leadership. The result? A nation where hope flickers but never quite catches fire.

A Culture of Abandonment and Distraction

One of our greatest national failures is that we have repeatedly abandoned the brave. When individuals like Dzamara and Nleya stand up and risk it all for change, we cheer from the sidelines but too often leave them isolated when it matters most. We wait for “them” the activists, the opposition, the exiled to carry the burden alone.

And those in power? They know this. They understand something we’ve forgotten: that Zimbabweans have become, in many cases, all talk and no trouser. The liberators of the past for all their flaws had grit, unity, and vision. They mobilised. They organised. They sacrificed.

Today, we complain privately, joke publicly, and outsource the struggle.

How They Keep Us Distracted

We’ve also become too easy to manipulate. Our history is littered with distraction politics — a regime tactic used time and time again to shift public attention.

When the heat rises, those in power reach for the same tricks:

• Stir tribal tension

• Spark a faux-fight with Britain or the West

• Scapegoat vulnerable communities

Mugabe was a master of this. Just as his legitimacy crumbled, he would stir up tribal division or throw anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric into the public square, knowing full well that many would rally behind him despite their suffering because, for some, being gay was worse than being corrupt or cruel.

And we fell for it. Every time.

A Nation of Selective Outrage

Zimbabweans have learned to shop for human rights like they’re in the sweet aisle of a supermarket:

• “This one I respect because it affects me.”

• “That one I’ll ignore because it doesn’t.”

And so, abuse continues. Rights are trampled. Corruption thrives. Because as long as it doesn’t affect me, why bother standing up?

As Father Martin Niemöller wrote in his haunting poem:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak outBecause I was not a Socialist.Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak outBecause I was not a Trade Unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.

The Real Solution: A Return to Values

The future of Zimbabwe will not be secured by another charismatic leader. It will not be fixed by hashtags or hashtags alone. It will not be saved by someone with a megaphone but no moral compass.

What Zimbabwe needs now is a radical return to values. We need principled, people-first, country-centred leadership. Leaders who ask not “What’s in it for me?” but “What legacy am I building for those to come?”

And the work starts not at State House, but in our own homes.

In how we:

• Treat the powerless

• Show up for each other

• Speak out when it’s uncomfortable

• Choose integrity over opportunity

• Lead in our classrooms, churches, families, communities

• 
  

The Leader We Need May Not Be Known Yet

The person who will help shift this nation may not even be on your radar. They might not wear a political badge or carry a placard. They might be quietly leading, learning, coaching, or building so do not play holier than thou because you are on the forefront now and you denigrate those you do not see there with you, maybe they are rasining, teaching the new laedership or cultivating rich ground for the new leadership to grow on, do you to thebest of your ability and someone somewhere is filling a void that you do not see but may be allowing you the platform to do what you are doi, so we need each other in various forms and shapes. The people to lead Zimbabwe out of this will need a nation to go with them, a well structured nation with the right foundation but they will not rise alone. They will rise with a people who are finally ready to follow values, not personalities. A people no longer fooled by shallow distractions or tribal games. A people who choose unity over noise, and purpose over posturing.

A Call to You So I say this:Let us stop asking, “Who will save us?” and start asking,“What will I stand for even when it costs me?”

Because Zimbabwe will not be changed by the few brave we continue to abandon. It will be transformed by the principled many who finally choose to show up.