Local government councillors and members of Parliament (MPs) are vital cogs in a representative democracy, acting as conveyor belts between citizens and government. As the lowest tier of government in Zimbabwe, urban and rural local authorities are con …

More than 3 million Zimbabweans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, out of 10 million the government aims to vaccinate in a bid to achieve herd immunity in a population of more than 15 million. The government has pushed its ambitious vaccination cam …

In his inaugural speech in November 2017, President Emmerson Mnangagwa pledged to fight corruption, a scourge that he said “remains the major source of some of the problems we face as a country, and its retarding impact on national development cannot b …

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state” as well as “the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country”. And the A …

The functions of traditional leaders in Zimbabwe’s rural areas are outlined in the Constitution and the 1988 Traditional Leaders Act. They include promoting and upholding the cultural values of their communities, facilitating development, and administe …

Taxation is an essential tool for domestic resource mobilization as well as policy making, shaping the distribution of resources among wealthy and less-wealthy citizens and enabling the government to address national development objectives. The governm …

Social media is having a huge impact on the daily lives of people throughout the world. A popular tool in both personal and professional life, social media allows users to stay updated and connected with little regard for geographical borders, and is c …

Zimbabwe has not been spared the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 16 June 2021, the country had recorded 40,077 confirmed cases and 1,635 deaths of COVID-19. Lockdowns have threatened many households with destitution and hunger. The government p …

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many countries to take drastic actions to reduce its spread and impact. In Zimbabwe, a national lockdown in effect since late March has been eased to allow select industry and commerce to operate, but the informal secto …

In a crisis, the ability to disseminate information rapidly and effectively can be a matter of life and death. During the COVID-19 pandemic, accurate, timely, and trusted information about the number of cases, ways to prevent infection, government curf …

Zimbabwe has been on lockdown since March 30 to inhibit the spread of the new coronavirus, though the mining and manufacturing sectors have reopened under rules set by the World Health Organization and public health authorities. To help “vulnerable gro …

In a democracy, elected local and parliamentary representatives are critical channels through which citizens’ views and preferences can impact local and national policies. They are also important conduits for disseminating information about government …

Information is the lifeblood of political accountability. Without reliable, timely information, citizens are unable to evaluate and constructively engage with what their government is doing. If such information is absent, willfully denied, physically i …

Zimbabwe has taken significant steps toward gender equity. Guided by a National Gender Policy since 2003 and a Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development since 2005, the country also guarantees, in its 2013 constitution, that every wom …

As Zimbabwe moves into a new era following its dramatic change in leadership, all eyes will be on the 2018 elections as a referendum on the people’s will and a test of progress toward freedom and fairness in its democratic practices. A central player w …

Zimbabwe’s Constitution of 2013 guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms for citizens, including freedom of speech, association, and religion as well as the right to privacy in their communications (Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013). In practice, howev …

According to some estimates, up to 3-4 million Zimbabweans live outside their country – a diaspora that may be one-fourth the size of the entire in-country population (UNDP, 2010). Perhaps more than 2 million Zimbabwean emigrants live in South Africa a …

Corporal punishment of children has been a topic of contentious public debate in Zimbabwe since High Court Judge Justice David Mangota’s ruling in March 2017 that the use of physical force to discipline children in school or at home is unconstitutional …

Elections are a critical mechanism through which citizens choose their representatives and hold them to account. Since attaining independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has unfailingly conducted regular elections – a total of eight parliamentary and five presid …

Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown remains an enormous challenge affecting citizens from all walks of life. The government’s 2009 introduction of various foreign currencies was welcomed by many Zimbabweans who, after years of hyperinflation, witnessed a stab …

“Demand for accountability in governance is solid among Zimbabweans, even if ensuring accountability requires slower government processes. Citizens clearly assign Parliament responsibility for making laws and for holding the president accountable for h …

“Given Zimbabwe’s diversity of ethnic, religious, national, political, and social backgrounds, peace and stability would be unthinkable without some degree of tolerance for those who are different. On some fronts, the country has struggled with intoler …

“Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries are facing one of their worst food shortages in decades. In February 2016, President Robert Mugabe declared a state of disaster in rural parts of the country severely hit by a drought largely blamed on the …

“The Southern African Development Community (SADC) counts among its 15 member states the region’s richest country (South Africa) as well as some of its poorest; landlocked as well as island states; and states with some of the largest populations in Afr …

“Advocates of media freedom find strong support among Zimbabwean citizens. According to the latest Afrobarometer survey in the country, a majority of citizens say the media should have the right to publish any views and ideas without government control …