Senator Jameson Zvidzai Timba
Harare | 19 January 2026
Recent commentary by ZANU-PF celebrating the role of Zimbabweans in the diaspora is a belated acknowledgement of a reality the ruling party itself created — and has consistently exploited.
Zimbabwe’s diaspora did not emerge from policy foresight or global mobility by choice. It is the direct result of more than four decades of economic mismanagement, institutional decay, corruption and constitutional disregard.
Millions of Zimbabweans were forced to leave their country not to “circulate skills,” but to survive.
To now applaud the diaspora’s remittances, skills and global networks — while continuing to deny those same citizens their constitutional right to vote — is not recognition. It is political hypocrisy.
Let us be clear on three fundamental truths.
First, remittances are not a development strategy.
Praising remittances without acknowledging the governance failures that made them necessary is an attempt to sanitise crisis.
Second, the diaspora’s exclusion from the vote is unconstitutional and indefensible.
Section 67 of the Constitution guarantees every Zimbabwean citizen the right to vote.
Citizenship is not suspended by geography. A government that welcomes diaspora money but blocks diaspora political participation is practicing economic extraction without democratic accountability.
Third, Vision 2030 cannot claim legitimacy while silencing millions of Zimbabweans.
A development “vision” imposed without the consent of all citizens — including those forced into exile — lacks democratic and moral foundation.
You cannot build an inclusive future by excluding a significant portion of the nation from its most basic political right.
The contradiction is glaring:
ZANU-PF wants the diaspora to fund the economy, attract investment, promote tourism and defend the country abroad — but not to vote, not to influence leadership choices, and not to participate meaningfully in shaping national direction.
That is not partnership, it is exploitation.
- True diaspora engagement begins with constitutional fidelity:
- Restore diaspora voting rights;
- Treat remittances as supplementary, not substitutive, to sound governance;
- End the politics of gratitude without rights.
The future of Zimbabwe will not be secured by flattering narratives or selective appreciation. It will be secured by implementing the Constitution fully and equally — at home and abroad.
Zimbabwe belongs to all its citizens, wherever they reside.
