The government of Zimbabwe under Emmerson Mnangagwa has become a machine that punishes anyone who dares to speak out. After taking over from Robert Mugabe in 2017 with promises of reform and freedom, Mnangagwa has led the country deeper into darkness. Zimbabwe today is a place where fear rules louder than freedom and silence has become the price of survival.
The recent release of journalist Blessed Mhlanga on bail is not a victory. It is a reminder of how low we have fallen. Mhlanga spent seventy two days behind bars for simply doing his job. He interviewed a ZANU PF member, Blessed Geza, who openly criticised Mnangagwa. That alone was enough to get Mhlanga arrested. The state accused him of trying to incite violence. Yet all he did was report the truth.
To make things worse, they charged him under the Criminal Law Act and handed the case over to the Counter Terrorism Unit. This is how the regime now views journalists. Not as professionals. Not as watchdogs. But as enemies of the state. It is an intentional move meant to spread fear and silence every reporter who dares to give voice to opposing views.
His arrest came just days before World Press Freedom Day and his release just three days after. The timing is no coincidence. It is a tired performance by a government desperate to appear respectable to the international community while continuing to crush dissent at home. They want applause from the world while they close the mouths of their own people.
This is not the first time this has happened. Journalists in Zimbabwe have been beaten, jailed, followed by secret agents and dragged through endless court battles. The judiciary claims independence but acts like a puppet. Mhlanga’s bail was only granted after three court appearances. What changed between the first two rejections and the final approval? Nothing but time. The excuses that he could disturb peace or scare witnesses were never real. They were tools to punish him.
People no longer believe in the justice system. It has become a tool of oppression, not protection. When laws are used to destroy lives instead of defend rights, then we must ask who the law really serves. In Zimbabwe, it serves the powerful. It serves those who fear questions more than crimes.
In normal countries, bail is not something to celebrate. It is a basic right. But in Zimbabwe we have been made to believe that even small moments of fairness are miracles. That is how bad things have become. Speaking your mind, asking tough questions or interviewing the wrong person can now land you in a prison cell.
Though Mhlanga is out of prison, he is not free. His case is still open. The chains are invisible, but they are there. And every other journalist sees them. That is the point. The regime wants us to think twice before we speak. They want fear to do the work of the police.
Calling in the Counter Terrorism Unit to deal with a journalist says everything. Telling the truth is now treated as terrorism. And when truth becomes a crime, then lies become law. That is the path we are on.
Laws like the Patriotic Act and the Peace and Order Act are tools for control. They have nothing to do with peace. They are weapons to crush the spirit of resistance. And the bitter irony is that Mnangagwa once needed the media to tell his story when Mugabe turned on him. Now he attacks the very thing that gave him a voice. That is betrayal in its purest form.
Blessed Mhlanga is not free. None of us are. Until the charges are dropped and the laws are reformed, Zimbabwe remains a prison. But we will not stop. We will not be silent. Truth will outlive tyranny.
It is not yet Uhuru.
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