The president should also be subjected to loadshedding to experience our suffering!

While the majority of citizens grapple with collapsing public services, economic hardship, and an unrelenting power crisis, the ruling elite remains cushioned from these realities.

One cannot help but wonder: would we still be facing these dire challenges if President Emmerson Mnangagwa himself had to endure them?

Would solutions have been found much faster if he and his government were subjected to the same struggles as the rest of us?

It is a question that haunts every Zimbabwean trying to survive in a country where essential services are failing.

To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08

Would our hospitals be in such a deplorable state if the president and his family sought medical attention at these institutions?

Would public schools be so woefully underfunded if his children studied there?

And most pressing of all, would we still be suffering up to 18-hour power outages if the president himself experienced loadshedding at his residence?

I strongly believe the answer is no.

If Mnangagwa and his government felt the same pain we do, urgent and lasting solutions would have been implemented long ago.

The primary reason our suffering continues unabated is that those with the power to fix these problems are not affected by them.

They live in comfort while the rest of the country is left to endure misery.

Take our healthcare system, for example.

Zimbabwe’s hospitals, which were once among the best in Africa, have now become places of despair.

There are not enough doctors or nurses, medicine is scarce, and medical equipment is either outdated or completely broken down.

It is not uncommon for patients to be asked to bring their own bandages, syringes, or even painkillers when seeking medical treatment.

Pregnant women have died in labour due to a lack of basic maternal care, and cancer patients have lost their lives simply because radiotherapy machines are not working.

Yet, when government officials or their families fall ill, they do not experience these struggles.

They fly to South Africa, Dubai, India, or China for medical treatment, where they receive first-class care at the expense of the taxpayer.

The same officials who have neglected our hospitals are the first to abandon them when their own lives are at stake.

Would they still turn a blind eye to the collapse of Zimbabwe’s health sector if they were forced to use public hospitals like the rest of us?

The education system tells a similar story.

Teachers go for months without salaries, schools lack textbooks, and students are crammed into overcrowded classrooms with little to no resources.

In some rural areas, children are still learning under trees, while urban schools suffer from years of neglect.

Meanwhile, those in power send their children to expensive private schools or overseas institutions, ensuring that they never have to suffer the consequences of Zimbabwe’s failing education system.

The electricity crisis, however, is perhaps the most glaring example of the elite’s indifference to the suffering of ordinary citizens.

The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) recently announced that Hwange Power Station’s Unit 7 would be taken offline from March 2 to March 29 for maintenance, followed by Unit 6 from March 15 to May 14.

This has plunged the country into an even deeper energy crisis.

Households and businesses which had already been going without electricity for up to 18 hours a day, face a darker prospect.

Electricity is a basic necessity, yet Zimbabweans are being forced to live without it for most of the day.

Families cannot cook meals, children cannot study at night, businesses cannot operate, and hospitals struggle to keep vital equipment running.

Meanwhile, the government has offered no real solutions.

In its statement, ZESA vaguely claimed that “Kariba Power Station would be managed carefully to address the periods of low supply caused by these outages.”

What does that even mean?

If anything, the power situation has worsened.

What is most frustrating is that this crisis could have been avoided.

Not every country produces sufficient electricity for its domestic needs, yet many manage to avoid chronic shortages by importing power.

For example, Iran, despite facing peak summer demand, has turned to electricity imports, planning to bring in 500 megawatts (MW) from Armenia and Turkmenistan to stabilize its grid.

Similarly, Norway, despite being an energy-exporting nation, has at times imported electricity from Sweden to ensure grid stability.

Even South Africa, despite its ongoing energy crisis, has sought external solutions, signing an agreement to import electricity from Mozambique, securing an initial 100 MW, with plans to increase this to 600 MW within six months.

These nations prioritize energy security by ensuring that there is a backup plan in place.

Why, then, is Zimbabwe not doing the same?

Why is the government not making serious efforts to import electricity to close the gap left by the maintenance of Hwange units?

Is this not because those in power are unaffected?

State House and other government residences remain fully powered.

Ministers and top officials have access to generators and solar power systems purchased with public funds, ensuring that they never experience the agony of loadshedding.

If the president himself had to endure 18-hour blackouts, would this crisis have been allowed to persist?

The economic consequences of this energy crisis are devastating.

Industries are struggling to keep operations running, with some businesses reporting losses of up to $80 million per month due to power outages.

Manufacturing has been severely affected, leading to job losses and reduced economic productivity.

Small businesses that rely on electricity to operate—such as welders, barbers, and tailors—are being forced to shut down.

Even informal traders, who make up a large part of Zimbabwe’s economy, are suffering, as refrigeration becomes impossible.

This crisis also has a direct impact on food security.

Many irrigation systems depend on electricity, and without a stable power supply, farmers cannot water their crops.

This will inevitably lead to lower agricultural output, driving up food prices and worsening hunger in an already struggling nation.

The ripple effect of power shortages is massive, yet the government appears completely indifferent.

The root cause of this apathy is clear: Zimbabwe’s leaders have become detached from the daily struggles of the people.

They live in a world of privilege, where the pain of ordinary citizens is nothing more than an inconvenience.

They have their own hospitals, their own private schools, their own electricity supply, and their own luxury lifestyles, all funded by taxpayers.

As long as they remain shielded from suffering, they will never have the incentive to fix the problems plaguing our country.

This is why it is imperative that the president and his government be subjected to the same conditions as the people they govern.

Let them go to public hospitals when they fall ill.

Let their children attend public schools.

Let them experience 18-hour power cuts like the rest of us.

Perhaps only then will they truly understand the urgency of these crises and take meaningful action to address them.

A government that does not share in the struggles of its people can never truly serve them.

Real leadership requires empathy, accountability, and a commitment to improving the lives of all citizens, not just the privileged few.

Until those in power are forced to live under the same conditions as the rest of us, Zimbabwe’s suffering will only continue.

• Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/