Zimbabweans Prepare for Presidential Elections Amid Economic Woes, High Inflation

Malawi-Zimbabweans are set to head to the polls in July or August 2023 to elect their leaders, writes Naome Chisala.

The two main candidates contesting the presidency are the current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), and his main rival, opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa of the Citizen’s Coalition for Change (CCC).

This election is expected to be the closest contest between these two candidates since the 2018 elections where Mnangagwa won by 50.8% of the votes cast, while Chamisa, the then leader of the opposition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), won by 44.3%. ZANU-PF has been in power since 1980 when Zimbabwe got its independence from Britain.

Some Zimbabweans living both in the country and abroad are focused on the need for a change in government.

They see a new administration as the only solution to the challenges that Zimbabwe has faced for over twenty years.

The country's economic collapse, coupled with its dire political situation, has resulted in a massive exodus of migrants leaving in search of better opportunities abroad.

Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate at 229.8% and 50% of Zimbabweans live in extreme poverty, per a World Bank report. Afrobarometer's 2017 data shows that 3-4 million Zimbabweans live abroad.

Zimbabwe is the main origin country for Southern African immigrants, with South Africa, UK, Malawi, Australia, and Botswana being the main destinations, according to a 2022 Migration Data Portal report

*Sibongile is one such migrant who left her home country of Zimbabwe in 2003 due to the deteriorating economic situation. Sibongile currently resides in Lilongwe with her Malawian husband and two children and works as an assistant manager at a local restaurant.

"We were struggling to find work, inflation was high, there were fuel, electricity and water problems and other basic necessities such as food and water were also in short supply," she said of her time in Zimbabwe.

After living and working in South Africa for 12 years, Sibongile and her family moved to Malawi in 2022.

When asked if she has registered to vote in the upcoming elections, she replied, "I have never gone back to Zimbabwe since I left in 2003, and I haven't registered to vote. I don't see the need to vote because I'm not expecting that there will be a change of government because all the previous elections have been rigged in favor of the ruling party."

Sibongile expressed that she would only consider returning home if the longstanding problems in Zimbabwe were addressed and fixed.

"Zimbabwe is a wealthy country, rich in minerals and resources and does not deserve to be in the terrible situation it has been in for such a long time. I believe a change of government can reverse its misfortunes," she said.

*Tatenda, a Zimbabwean businessman operating a gas company in Harare, agrees with Sibongile's sentiments but has faced obstacles in registering to vote.

"The people who are in charge of organizing the voting process are crooks. They put only 30 days to go and vote and by the time I went to a voting station to register to vote, they said they were closed," he said.

"Even when some people go and register to vote, they turn some of them away."

Frustrated with the dire situation in Zimbabwe, Tatenda is planning to migrate and move his company to Canada.

He explained to me the dire situation that Zimbabwe is facing and expressed his belief that ZANU-PF will win through vote rigging, despite opposition party candidate Chamisa being the favorite to win the elections.

Tatenda explains that the situation in Zimbabwe is dire for both the youth and elderly.

"Many youths are leaving the country for a better future," he says.

"ZANU-PF has politicized the banks and everything to the point that if you want to acquire a loan, you have to be a supporter of the party. Transport is expensive and terrible, with many people having to wait long hours to get home. Doctors and nurses are leaving the hospitals for Europe in search of better salaries. Basic salaries of people are $100 a month, in which transport alone for one person is $120 a month. It's a sad situation."

When it comes to the economic situation in Zimbabwe, Tatenda paints a picture of a country in economic calamity.

"Realistically, people in this country survive off the diaspora, with 90% of people selling clothing bales either from America or Europe, and the remaining 10% standing in queues at money remittances the whole day," he tells me.

"If you're lucky enough to find a job, you will be paid between $80-$200, which is not enough to cover transport costs in a month or to survive. You can't start a company with these meagre earnings, and even if you do start one, it may never survive because there is no access to loans, so people in this country are doomed."

It is this dire economic situation that has influenced him to migrate to Canada in search of greener pastures.

Even though he was unsuccessful in registering to vote in the upcoming elections, I ask Tatenda about his thoughts on the elections.

"The former president Mugabe made Zimbabwe bad, Mnangagwa made Zimbabwe hell," he says.

"Chamisa is the favourite to win the elections, and I hope that they will allow him to rule. The margin he will win by now will be big because I have travelled to the rural areas where ZANU-PF has always been popular, but now, people living there are tired of the party and the president because they are suffering there."

For now, all Tatenda can do is follow in the footsteps of Sibongile and millions of other Zimbabweans who have migrated to other countries in search of a better life. He hopes that his countrymen will vote for a change in leadership and a "changed" Zimbabwe,

*Names have been changed to protect the safety and privacy of interviewees.