Zimbabwe could see an unprecedented exodus of up to two million citizens fleeing the country if Zanu-PF “steals” the upcoming elections through rigging and manipulation, according to former Ntabazinduna chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni.
In an interview with NewsDay, the outspoken critic of the Emmerson Mnangagwa government predicted a “tsunami” of people packing their bags and joining the more than five million Zimbabweans already in the diaspora, mainly in South Africa.
Ndiweni, who was dethroned by the government in 2019, said a mass exodus on that scale would be “the biggest movement of people we have seen in the SADC in our age.” He pointed out that around one million Zimbabweans fled the country during the peak of the 2008 economic crisis.
The former chief warned that the government’s refusal to allow citizens in the diaspora to vote – most of whom are keeping the country afloat through remittances – would further worsen Zimbabwe’s crisis of legitimacy after flawed elections.
While expressing confidence that the opposition will win a free and fair vote, Ndiweni bluntly stated: “I am 100% certain that Zanu-PF will try to retain power through the use of force.”
The warning signals the prospects of more turmoil in Zimbabwe if citizens’ democratic rights are denied and results are manipulated in favour of the ruling party. Those with means appear ready to abandon the sinking ship altogether rather than suffer another five years under Zanu-PF’s misrule.
With President Mnangagwa expected to announce the election date imminently, Zimbabwe seems headed towards a perfect storm of political instability, economic collapse and a mass exodus of citizens unwilling to endure more hardship at the hands of an entrenched authoritarian regime.
