As another year draws to a close, it leaves behind a series of gripping and unforgettable moments that defined its course.
The Zimbabwe Independent highlights the most memorable quotes of 2024. While this list is not exhaustive, it represents our selection of the year’s most impactful and thought-provoking remarks.
“I served my first term and it ended then we went to congress and you chose me to be your President for another term, so I am now in my last five-year term. Thereafter, I will retire and rest, then we will go to congress where you will elect another president to lead the party following in my footsteps, the Munhumutapa steps.” — President Emmerson Mnangagwa, while addressing Zanu PF supporters in Mutare.
He declared that he had no intention to extend his maximum two-year constitutional limit, which ends in 2028.
“I understand clearly the motivation behind the resolution. We have scored great achievements in a very short space of time under the leadership of His Excellency the President. So, I understand the motivation that these achievements must continue. I thought on this referendum (allow Mnangagwa to extend his term beyond 2028) I should seek instructions from His Excellency the President to find out what his position is. I was given an answer but I was not satisfied. I asked again for a meeting mid-September and I was given the same answer. I asked for another meeting on Tuesday and I was given the same answer. He said he is a constitutionalist and will abide by the constitution, which limits presidential terms and has no intention of serving beyond 2028,” Zanu PF legal secretary Patrick Chinamasa said, while presenting the resolutions at the party’s national people’s conference held in Bulawayo in October.
“The tension was definitely there and you could feel it in the room. Chiwenga said we want unity. He said: “We don’t want to go back to the 2017 period.’’ — A confidential source said in an interview with the Independent after a Zanu PF Central Committee meeting.
“The original CCC idea has…been contaminated, bastardised, hijacked by Zanu PF through the abuse of State institutions. A contaminated, bastardised, hijacked CCC cannot deliver a new great Zimbabwe! But then God’s grace is sufficient! Indeed, God is in it. This is to officially, and under my hand, inform you fellow citizens of Zimbabwe and the world, that, with immediate effect, I no longer have anything to do with CCC.”— Former CCC president Nelson Chamisa said following weeks of speculation on the future of CCC after self-imposed secretary general Sengezo Tshabangu snatched the outfit.
“We will soon submit the account details of our CCC bank account as we are requesting your good office to process and disburse the allocation that is due to our party in terms of the Act,” wrote interim treasurer of the Tshabangu-led CCC Mbuso Siso, in a letter to the government in March, requesting for the disbursement of funds based on the CCC’s participation in the 2023 elections.
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“As an individual, I am entitled to rest, to have a sabbatical. So, I am in that mode of complete time out. Everyone has got a Constitutional right of controlling his or her affairs. At the moment in time, I have taken time out in certain spaces, including the political space.” Former finance minister and rotational leader of the beleaguered Tshabangu-led CCC Tendai Biti said in an interview with Heart and Soul TV.
“After Job Sikhala has been given a two-year prison term wholly suspended for a period of five years on condition that
he does not commit a crime of inciting public violence, he is now a free man.”-Lawyer Harrison Nkomo announcing the acquittal of Job Sikhala and release from prison on charges of inciting public violence. Sikhala had spent nearly two years in detention.
“The level of brutality and cruelty I faced at Chikurubi maximum prison should not be forgotten by the people of Zimbabwe. But what makes me happy is that I did not go to prison for the selfish interest of my family or myself. I was suffering on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe.” –Sikhala, in an address to supporters who had converged at his residence after his release.
“These changes are intended to enhance the fulfilment of the Zanu PF youth league’s constitutional obligations and meticulous execution of the national people’s conference resolutions.” - Zanu PF secretary for youth affairs Tinoda Machakaire, writing after appointing new officials to the organ, in a move he said was meant to enhance the implementation of the party’s annual conference resolutions. During its annual conference this year, Zanu PF resolved to extend Mnangagwa’s term beyond 2028.
“My office has received several complaints from the affected national executive members, who were reshuffled from their positions without proper procedures being adhered to. I have since written to the affected comrades guiding them to remain in their positions and continue with their responsibilities as mandated by the national youth conference of May 2022 until a clear instruction is issued by the secretary-general. That having been said, the purported reshuffle is hereby put on hold until further notice.” - Zanu PF deputy secretary for youth affairs Kindness Paradza, writing to Machakaire.
“The restructuring exercise appears to have been implemented without consulting the National Assembly of the Youth League or the Youth Executive Council or securing ratification from the Politburo or Central Committee, as required by Article 26 Section 330 (2) and (3) of the 2022 Party Constitution.” - Zanu PF secretary-general Obert Mpofu, writing Machakaire, as the battle to control the party youth organ raged on.
“However, for reasons unknown to me, my late father did not want it to be disclosed to the public that I am his son, until at a later stage. Unfortunately, my mother passed on before that disclosure. I had a difficult time being accepted into the First Family then given the fact that the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe was now married. Although I would meet my father occasionally, he would maintain it a secret to the First Family. However, I was in contact with my late father's siblings, such as aunt Laurencia Machemedze Mugabe who deposed an affidavit to that effect.” - A man claiming to be the son of Zimbabwe’s late leader Robert Mugabe, Tonderai Gabriel Mugabe submitted in his High Court application seeking a share from the strongman’s vast estate. Mugabe’s daughter Bona is cited in the court papers as the executor of Mugabe’s estate.
“I do not believe in quasi-fiscal activities. It is not going to happen under my watch. My mandate as spelt out in the Reserve Bank Act is very clear and I have no intention to do other people’s jobs. I will do my job as the central bank governor as defined in the RBZ Act. With effect from April 5, 2024, banks shall convert the current Zimbabwe dollar balances into the new currency, which shall be called Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) to foster simplicity, certainty, and predictability in monetary and financial affairs. The new currency will co-circulate with other foreign currencies in the economy.” – Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mushayavanhu, while announcing the introduction of the Zimbabwe Gold currency.
“You can change currencies a million times as they have done but it will not deal with inflation. Inflation is a by-product of the fact that too much money is chasing too few goods and we in Zimbabwe generate too much money by a government that prints money and cannot live within its means, a government that spends money as if it grows on trees. Vane shavi rekudya mari (They are obsessed with squandering money). When there is too much money in the economy chasing too few goods, the prices of goods go up. The fundamental problem in Zimbabwe; lack of fiscal consolidation.”-Former finance minister Tendai Biti commenting on the ZiG currency introduced in April.
“I would like to thank the association (Zifa), especially the chief executive officer Yvonne Manwa for running around and seeing to it that we always had everything we needed at hand. The backroom staff and everyone at Zifa deserve some credit. They have pulled in the same direction and the result has been good.” - Warriors coach Michael Nees paid tribute to Zifa after Zimbabwe sealed a slot in the African Cup of Nations (AfCon) tournament to be hosted in Morocco next year.
