When Survival Becomes a Struggle: A Cry for Dignity in Zimbabwe

30th April 2026

By Chiedza Kambari (ROHR Zimbabwe Activist)

Last week, the streets spoke not in celebration, but in silence, fear, and frustration. Vendors whispered instead of calling customers. Families counted coins instead of planning futures. In a nation rich with resources, ordinary people are being pushed to the edge of survival.

The reality we face today is painful but undeniable. Inflation continues to rise while incomes remain stagnant. Basic commodities, food, transport, and healthcare are becoming unaffordable for the majority. At the same time, policies and restrictions are tightening, leaving citizens with fewer options for honest survival. Instead of protection, many now feel controlled, unheard, and forgotten.

As an activist with ROHR Zimbabwe, I see this struggle not as statistics, but as real lives. Mothers are skipping meals so their children can eat. Students are dropping out because the fees are unaffordable. The elderly, who once built this nation, are now surviving without dignity or proper care.

The basic rights to food and dignity have become luxuries in a resource-rich nation.

This is not just an economic issue; it is a human rights crisis.

What we are witnessing is the widening gap between leadership and the people. When laws and policies ignore the daily realities of citizens, they stop serving the people and start oppressing them. Fear should never replace freedom. Survival should never replace dignity.

But silence will not fix this.

We must speak. We must question. We must demand accountability, not as enemies of the state, but as citizens who love their country and want better for it. Change begins when truth is no longer hidden and when people refuse to accept suffering as normal.

Zimbabweans deserve more.
More fairness.
More opportunity.
More dignity.

The time to act is now, not tomorrow, not someday, because a nation cannot thrive when its people are merely trying to survive.

#NoTo2030
#CAB3
#NoToCAB3
#No2CAB3
#Zimbabwe
#HumanRights
#ROHRZimbabwe

About the author
Chiedza Kambari is a human rights activist based in the United Kingdom. She is in the Midlands Branch of the UK Chapter of Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe.  She can be contacted by email at kambarichiedza@gmail.com