WHEN PROPAGANDA MASQUERADES AS GRIEF: “WIDOWS FOR ED” IS A MOCKERY OF SUFFERING
Wonders never cease in the paralyzed state of Zimbabwe. Just when one thinks they’ve seen it all under the spectacularly failing ZANU PF regime, a new political spectacle emerges — this time in the form of an outfit called Widows for ED. In a nation ravaged by economic collapse, political repression, and mass suffering, this development is not only absurd, it is an insult to the lived experiences of millions.
Widowhood is a painful condition, a reflection of deep loss, struggle, and the harsh realities of survival. It is not a status to be exploited for political mileage or transformed into a propaganda tool. Yet here we are — a country where even grief is now weaponized to manufacture support for a regime that has overseen decades of destruction.
Instead of holding those in power accountable for the crises that have left families broken and communities shattered, outfits like Widows for ED are deployed to legitimize that very same power — power that is rooted in illegitimacy, impunity, and a deep betrayal of the people’s will.
Let us be clear: this is not a movement for widows. This is a political project to sanitize failure. It serves one purpose — to uphold and perpetuate the interests of a system that has looted the nation dry, while the majority suffer in silence.
The formation of such groups does not uplift widows; it reinforces a political culture where vulnerable citizens are used as props in a desperate effort to maintain a crumbling grip on power. It also helps redirect focus from the real causes of Zimbabwe’s social and economic decay — corruption, repression, and institutionalized looting.
Zimbabwe’s slide into dysfunction is not accidental. It is the result of deliberate, unchecked greed by a political elite that has spent decades siphoning resources through scandal after scandal: Willowgate, Chiadzwa diamonds, Command Agriculture, the Airport Road scandal — the list is endless. These events are not relics of the past; they are the blueprint of the present.
When basic services like water, healthcare, education, and public housing remain inaccessible to the majority, forming a group to cheerlead for the very architects of that crisis is not just tone-deaf — it is dangerous. Especially when we know that the real causes of mass widowhood and orphanhood in this country are rooted in bad governance, collapsed public health systems, poverty, and preventable deaths.
Worse still, groups like Widows for ED lend dangerous legitimacy to a party increasingly seeking one-party rule, silencing dissent, and dismantling democratic checks and balances. What future is there for Zimbabwean families when the very system responsible for their suffering is constantly celebrated, while opposition voices are jailed, exiled, or crushed?
Let it be said without fear: Zimbabwe needs healing, not hollow praise for a regime that continues to bleed the nation dry. It needs transparency, not orchestrated political theatre. It needs accountability, not glorification of decay. And most importantly, it needs a leadership that understands widowhood is not a campaign slogan — it is a tragedy caused by policies and failures that must be confronted, not celebrated.
The people of Zimbabwe must see through the charade. The time for reclaiming dignity, justice, and true democratic change is now. The memory of the many who have suffered — and those who continue to suffer — deserves better than this.
