By A Correspondent – Zanu PF has once again confirmed that loyalty to President Emmerson Mnangagwa matters more than public service record, after celebrating the appointment of businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei to a senior ministerial post despite his having built his power in business, not in public administration.

Zanu PF online activist Cleopas Mukungunugwa boasted in a statement on Facebook about the party’s latest provincial meeting, presenting the appointments as proof of strength. But what he celebrated as achievement, many Zimbabweans will see as a damning indictment of a party that rewards cronies while hospitals collapse and the economy fails.

“ZANU PF’s enduring strength lies in its permanent presence at the grassroots. On Sunday Harare Province convened a well-attended Post-Conference Provincial Coordinating Committee meeting at its provincial headquarters in the CBD, expressing profound gratitude to His Excellency President Dr E.D. Mnangagwa for recognising the province through key national appointments: Cde Dr Kudakwashe Tagwirei (Minister of Economic Development and Investment Promotion), Cde Godwills Masimirembwa (Senate), and Cde Miriam Chikukwa (Ambassador),” Mukungunugwa said.

The praise for Tagwirei is particularly galling. Tagwirei, widely seen as Mnangagwa’s heir apparent and one of the most powerful businessmen in the country, is the man behind Kuvimba Mining House and owner of the private Arundel Hospital. He has never been elected by the public, has never run a government ministry, and has never been accountable to voters for service delivery.

Yet he is now being positioned at the centre of economic policy, in a country where the economy is in ruins and public hospitals have no drugs, no equipment and no doctors.

For ordinary Zimbabweans queuing for paracetamol at Harare Central Hospital or watching relatives die because they cannot afford private care, the appointment is not a cause for gratitude. It is a slap in the face. While the elite can afford Arundel, the majority are left to a collapsing public system that the new minister has never had to rely on.

Mukungunugwa went further, revealing what the Harare meeting was really about: not service delivery, but keeping Mnangagwa in power.

“Provincial Chairman Cde Masimirembwa highlighted resolutions from the 23rd National People’s Conference, including the proposed extension of the President’s tenure to 2030 and his endorsement as the party’s sole presidential candidate for the 2029 Congress – a reflection of the collective aspirations of the membership,” he said.

That claim of “collective aspirations” is false. The extension to 2030 was not decided by ordinary Zimbabweans. It was decided by Zanu PF delegates at a conference, then pushed through Parliament as Constitutional Amendment Act No. 3, without a referendum and against section 328(7) of the Constitution, which bars an amendment that extends time in office from benefiting a sitting president.

Now the same party wants to present Mnangagwa as the “sole presidential candidate” for 2029, effectively killing internal democracy and turning Zanu PF into a one-man project.

Mukungunugwa calls this “enduring strength” and “permanent presence at the grassroots.” In reality, it is permanent presence at the feeding trough. Zanu PF’s grassroots structures do not deliver clean water, jobs, or medicines. They deliver votes through intimidation, food aid manipulation, and patronage, while the leadership rewards itself with ministries, senate seats and ambassadorial posts.

Tagwirei’s rise is the clearest proof. A businessman with vast commercial interests in mining and private healthcare is handed the economic future of a nation whose people cannot afford bread. A party that claims to serve the grassroots celebrates appointments instead of apologising for the state of those grassroots.

Zimbabwe does not need another minister appointed for loyalty. It needs hospitals that work, an economy that works, and a Constitution that is respected.