Online Reporter
Tichaona Mungwariri
Some Zimbabwean opposition elements have developed a habit of attempting to solve national problems by threatening and having demonstrations or calling for nationwide shutdowns.
As one of the leaders in the opposition I want to say to Zimbabweans that, before we close our shops and keep children at home on Friday July 31, we must ask: What have years of shutdowns delivered and at what cost?
Demonstrations create noise. Noise does not build clinics, pay teachers, or grow the economy. The honest answer is uncomfortable: shutdowns have been detrimental to our economy and have yielded no durable results.
The cost we can no longer bear
Shutdowns may feel powerful for a day, but the cost is borne by the vendor, the teacher, the nurse and the parent. The March 2003 shutdown closed businesses for two days. Workers lost wages, property was destroyed, and fuel prices did not come down. All we gained was a deeper hole in an economy already battling inflation.
The 2016 #ThisFlag protests, along with repeated teacher and nurse strikes, took children out of classrooms and patients out of hospital wards. The result has always been the same: lost production, reduced investment, and wasted time.
A closed shop does not feed a family. A closed factory does not generate the taxes needed to build schools. A shutdown also creates an impression of instability that discourages foreign direct investment.” In 2026, with jobs scarce and Zimbabwe seeking greater foreign direct investment to create employment opportunities for young people, can we afford another self-inflicted shutdown?
The record: Very little to show
Out of at least 18 national strikes, demonstrations, and stayaways—from the March 2003 MDC and ZCTU two-day fuel strike, which brought business to a standstill, to the 31 July protests called by opposition figures over alleged economic decline—none has produced lasting success. Instead, they have had a devastating impact on the country’s economy and international image. These demonstrations have silently undermined industry and discouraged potential investors. They have also failed to provide a permanent solution to the civil service wage crisis.
At best, protests compel the government to engage in dialogue. That conversation, however, could take place with far less economic and social damage if it began around the negotiating table.
Where dialogue has delivered
This is Zimbabwe’s paradox: the periods in which the country has made its greatest progress have largely been through dialogue. The Government of National Unity (2009–2013), brokered by SADC, ushered in a new Constitution, dollarization and the reopening of schools and hospitals. During the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 2 (CAB 2) process, public hearings and court challenges compelled Parliament to revisit aspects of the legislation. No windows were broken, yet a lasting legal record was created.
Within the Tripartite Negotiating Forum, labour, business and Government continue to negotiate wages and conditions while people remain at work. Dialogue is often slow, but it is where laws are enacted, budgets are agreed upon, and lasting solutions are forged.
A word to our legislators
Here is perhaps the hardest truth: Legislators should not abdicate their constitutional responsibility by calling for demonstrations when they have done little to advance meaningful reform through legislation. Parliament is a place for proactive leadership, not reactive politics.
It is Parliament’s duty to draft laws and hold the Executive accountable before national tensions escalate. When Members of Parliament encourage shutdowns instead of using parliamentary committees, debates, and legislation, they shift their constitutional responsibilities onto ordinary citizens.
We do not need parliamentarians on the streets on 31 July. We need them in Parliament on 1 August.”
The way forward
People should keep working and protect the economy while problems are addressed.
Let’s create lasting outcomes as sustainable solutions come from the negotiating table, not the streets.
The people of Zimbabwe should remain peaceful, reduce risk, avoid arrests, violence and destruction. Churches, communities, business, labour and the Government can engage constructively through dialogue.
The so-called 31 July 2026 Shutdown should simply be ignored. Let us choose a different path from different years and shun the shutdown.
Let civil society petition. Let the Church convene. Let business and labour negotiate. And let Parliament legislate.
Protest may feel satisfying in the moment but dialogue delivers.
It is time for Zimbabwe to chose delivery over disruption.
#ShunTheShutdown
Tichaona Mungwariri is the Interim National Youth Chairperson of the CCC
