Fear Factor: 60% Afraid to Demonstrate in Zimbabwe

At least 60% of Zimbabweans feel unsafe in participating in peaceful demonstrations, the latest Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) 2025 State of Peace Report has revealed.

The report released last week marks five years of tracking peacebuilding efforts across the country.

This year’s edition, titled Mobilising Ideas and Action for Peace in Zimbabwe, celebrates the evolution of the report from a regional initiative to a nationwide reflection of grassroots voices from all ten provinces.

The report delved into the shrinking democratic space in the country with citizens unable to exercise their rights through peaceful demonstrations.

“Political polarisation, economic deprivation, corruption, and shrinking civic space are the dominant disruptors of peace,” the report read in part.

“Unemployment (67,9%) and lack of education (43,9%) are seen as structural barriers to stability.

“Nearly 60% feel unsafe participating in peaceful demonstrations; 47,6% have felt threatened when exercising fundamental rights.

“Freedom of religion is largely respected, but other civil and political rights are constrained by fear, repression, and partisan bias.”

On Friday, police showed up in full force to thwart calls for a one-million men march organised by outspoken war veteran Blessed Geza.

Geza rallied Zimbabweans to the streets to stop Zanu PF from implementing a controversial agenda to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term of office from 2028 to 2030.

“The 2024-2025 State of Peace Report reveals a nation where the constitutional promise of peace, justice, and human rights remains aspirational for many, yet where communities continue to demonstrate resilience, agency, and a clear vision for a more inclusive future,” the report read.

“While the cconstitution enshrines a broad spectrum of rights, the majority of citizens experience these rights as conditional, unevenly applied, or actively suppressed.

“Political polarisation, economic deprivation, corruption, and the shrinking of civic space have entrenched a climate of fear and mistrust, eroding the social contract between the state and its people.”

ZimRights national director Dzikamai Bere described the report as Zimbabwe’s most comprehensive community-based peace assessment to date.

“This edition is particularly special,” he said.

“It places community leadership at the heart of peacebuilding.

“Communities are no longer passive recipients of peace initiatives they are driving the agenda.”

The 2025 report builds on the 2024 edition, Broken Calabash, which underscored a growing demand for local dialogue and community-led peace processes.

Bere said “people want peace so much that governments must eventually step aside and let them have it”.

A key innovation in this year’s edition is the introduction of a new chapter, Improving the State of Peace in Zimbabwe.

The chapter presents actionable ideas based on a national survey and input from 15 experts in peacebuilding, governance, and human rights.

“We want to create a national peace ideas movement where thought meets action. This is not theory — it’s practical and necessary,” read the report. Standard