Please, Mr. President, think of yourself as a servant and not a king for Zimbabwe to progress

Tendai Ruben Mbofana

When President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently returned from a clandestine, late-night trip to Belarus on May 14, 2026, he skipped the standard official send-offs and left the nation guessing. 

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Challenged by a state broadcaster journalist to explain this unannounced executive movement, his response was delivered with a lighthearted chuckle: “Mambo haatauri nemusha pese paanofamba.” 

While many dismissed his assertion that a king does not need to report to the village every time he travels as mere jest, there is something deeply disturbing about this rhetoric. 

For a president of a constitutional republic to even jokingly refer to himself as a king exposes a profound psychological framework regarding how he perceives his position. 

This behavior is a textbook example of a Freudian slip—or more specifically, parapraxis—whereby an individual inadvertently reveals their true subconscious thoughts, desires, or beliefs through a statement they attempt to frame as a joke. 

When such a remark is made, it serves as a window into the speaker’s internal reality; they may consciously or subconsciously regard themselves exactly as they have described, revealing a deep-seated belief in their own superiority that they are unable to fully conceal. 

Things are never just said in jest. 

Such language points to a deeper issue of self-importance and a distorted view of public office. 

If I continuously joke about myself as a god, society does not dismiss it as trivial; we recognize it as a psychological red flag.

When a head of state views himself as a mambo, it reveals a dangerous detachment from the core tenet of modern governance: that the authority to rule is derived strictly from the consent of the governed.

In a genuine republic, the president is not the master of the nation. 

He is one of the people, chosen from among the people, to serve them at the highest echelons of government. 

This is why democracy is fundamentally defined as government of the people, by the people, and for the people. 

A republican president is never above the citizens, and he is certainly not their monarch. 

When a leader adopts a royal mindset, the consequences for a nation are catastrophic. 

A ruler who views himself as a master rather than a servant naturally begins to feel entitled to perpetual power. 

Accountability vanishes, and rule is executed with total impunity. 

Under this psychological framework, the rule of law is degraded into a mere suggestion rather than an absolute imperative. 

State institutions stop serving the public and begin serving the individual desires of the leader. 

Corruption among those closest to the throne becomes completely entrenched. 

The entire national narrative is forced to revolve around one man, prioritizing the advancement of an individual over the progress of the entire populace. 

The citizens are reduced to an afterthought and an inconvenience.

History is replete with bloody rebellions and revolutions driven precisely by the rejection of this monarchical arrogance. 

In the days of absolute kings and queens, particularly in Europe, the national cake was never equitably distributed, despite the vast wealth often accumulated from overseas colonies.

Royalty lived in obscene opulence, literally surrounded by silver and gold, while ordinary citizens scrounged for the most basic necessities. 

It is no historical coincidence that devastating diseases of hygiene, like cholera and the plague, became rampant pandemics during those eras; the masses lived in abject poverty and squalor while those in power enjoyed heaven on earth. 

The civilized world ultimately rejected this tyranny, ushering in modern democratic governance. 

Even in contemporary nations that retained their monarchies, such as the United Kingdom, royal power and privilege have been severely restricted, ensuring that democratically elected leaders manage the nation’s resources for the benefit of the public.

There is absolutely nothing glorious about a monarchy or boasting about being a mambo. 

In fact, this exact feudal mindset is the primary reason the majority of Zimbabweans are enduring severe economic misery today. 

Currently, an estimated 80 percent of the population lives in general poverty, with nearly 50 percent trapped in extreme poverty. 

Millions of citizens find it an daily struggle to put food on the table or send their children to school. 

Thousands of Zimbabweans needlessly lose their lives each year due to chronically underfunded and poorly resourced public health institutions, where basic medications and lifesaving equipment are completely non-existent. 

Furthermore, 80 percent of the adult population is now forced to rely on sitting on pavements and street sides doing informal trading just for daily survival. 

Because the public has been so severely deprived, the smallest crumb thrown at them by the political elite feels like a whole loaf and is celebrated as if it were a massive feast.

While the general populace experiences this squalor, those in close proximity to power openly flash high-end luxury vehicles, purchase private jets, and construct magnificent mansions. 

They casually give away cars and cash to social media celebrities and ruling party cheerleaders to buy superficial loyalty. 

They behave this way because they genuinely see themselves as royalty, completely detached from the struggles of the ordinary person. 

Zimbabwe can only experience genuine progress and development when those in power finally internalize the fact that they are not our kings and queens. 

Zimbabwe is a democratic republic on paper, and it must become one in practice. 

The nation does not exist to serve the political elite; rather, leaders are elected to serve the nation. 

The people are the ultimate master, and it is from them alone that the authority to govern is derived.

• Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. To directly receive his articles please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08