Stories written by Michelle Chifamba

Zimbabwe’s Thin Line between Child Smuggling and Child Trafficking

By Michelle Chifamba
Elton Ndumiso*, a bus-conductor who works the route from Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, to neighbouring South Africa, sees it all the time: Zimbabwean women travelling with three or four children, who are clearly not their own kids, and taking them across the border.

It’s a crime that most bus drivers or conductors either turn a blind eye to, or become accomplices in by assisting the women. 

Zimbabwe’s ‘Casualisation of Labour’ Leads to a New Form of Exploitation

By Michelle Chifamba
Ethel Maziriri, 27, holds an Honours Degree in Social Work from the University of Zimbabwe, but instead of working in her chosen profession, she works as a cashier in one of the country’s leading clothing retail company. And it’s not by choice.

Sunshine Gets Slowly More Energetic in Zimbabwe

By Michelle Chifamba
On top of a small wooden cabin in Norton, a dormitory town outside the capital of Zimbabwe, is a solar panel that Silvester Ngunzi uses to light up his household.

Mobile Phones Big Hit in Rural Zimbabwe

By Michelle Chifamba
Prosper Muripo rents a small space in a general dealer’s shop at the Gotora shopping centre in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland East province. He is one of the many people in rural Zimbabwe who earn a living selling recharge vouchers and charging mobile phone batteries on solar-powered chargers.

Complicated Registration ‘Designed’ to Prevent Zimbabweans From Voting

By Michelle Chifamba
Like many other aspiring voters, Emilia Magirazi, 27, braved a chilly winter's morning as she waited patiently to register as a voter in the slow-moving queue at Kuwadzana 8 Primary School in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

Women in Zimbabwe’s Parliament Will Change Widow’s Lives

By Michelle Chifamba
When Maude Taruvinga* votes in Zimbabwe’s elections later this year, she will be voting for her local female politician as she has placed her hopes for a better future on the presence of more women in this southern African nation’s legislature.

Reviving Zimbabwe’s ‘Growth Points’

By Michelle Chifamba
More than three decades after Zimbabwe’s independence, the idea of developing its rural areas seems to have been laid to rest, as points intended for development have been turned into beer outlets, which seem to be more lucrative than industry.


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