This
follows
remarks
made
by
Prof
Ncube
during
the
2026
pre-budget
seminar
held
in
Bulawayo
on
Wednesday,
November
5,
2025,
where
he
claimed
“most
Zimbabweans
are
now
middle-income
citizens”
citing
average
daily
spending
of
US$9,
improved
infrastructure
and
what
he
described
as
“growing
economic
stability.”
However,
AM
Party
leader,
Mudenda
Chilumbo,
said
the
minister’s
statement
was
“a
deliberate
attempt
to
deceive
the
nation,”
arguing
that
the
reality
on
the
ground
paints
a
completely
different
picture.
“The
minister
is
misleading
Zimbabweans
because
according
to
the
World
Bank,
middle-income
status
refers
to
a
country
whose
Gross
National
Income
(GNI)
per
capita
lies
between
US$1
136
and
US$4
465,”
said
Chilumbo.“This
is
contrary
to
Zimbabwe,
where
teachers,
nurses,
and
other
public
service
workers
including
our
pensioners
are
receiving
less
than
US$250
per
month.
Many
urban
communities
including
Bulawayo
and
Harare
have
gone
for
years
without
running
water.
How
do
you
claim
upper
middle-income
status
under
these
circumstances,
Minister
Ncube?”
Chilumbo
said
the
situation
was
even
worse
in
rural
areas,
where
basic
services
remain
out
of
reach
for
most
families.
“In
rural
areas,
particularly
in
the
most
marginalised
provinces
of
Matabeleland
North,
South
and
parts
of
Midlands,
families
still
draw
drinking
water
from
open
wells
and
rivers
shared
with
wild
animals
and
livestock
and
my
home
area,
Binga,
is
a
case
study
for
this
matter.
Do
you
argue?”
he
asked.
“Schools
remain
trapped
in
the
colonial
era
without
textbooks,
furniture,
or
laboratories
and
thousands
of
children
walk
long
distances
just
to
learn
under
trees.”
Chilumbo
described
the
country’s
public
hospitals
as
“death
traps”
and
said
informal
workers
and
small
traders,
who
form
the
backbone
of
Zimbabwe’s
economy,
continue
to
operate
under
harsh
conditions.
“Hospitals
that
are
supposed
to
serve
citizens
as
a
public
good
remain
death
traps
where
patients
must
bring
their
own
gloves,
bandages
and
medicine,”
he
said.
“Meanwhile,
informal
traders,
who
employ
the
majority
of
our
citizens,
continue
to
operate
under
harassment,
spot
fines
and
arbitrary
levies
without
real
government
support.
Civil
servants
struggle
to
afford
transport
to
work.
Families
in
towns
rely
on
firewood
for
cooking,
while
rural
clinics
operate
in
darkness.
The
above
are
the
real
conditions
to
which
our
citizens
are
subjected,
Minister
Ncube
not
your
lies.”
The
AM
leader
said
comparing
Zimbabwe’s
economic
situation
to
countries
that
have
genuinely
achieved
middle-income
status
exposes
how
far
the
nation
still
has
to
go.
“To
put
Zimbabwe’s
statistical
middle-income
claim
into
perspective,
take
notes
from
the
countries
that
have
genuinely
achieved
it,”
said
Chilumbo.
“Botswana,
for
example,
has
invested
heavily
in
healthcare,
education,
and
infrastructure.
Its
average
worker
earns
over
US$800
per
month,
public
hospitals
are
well-equipped,
and
electricity
and
water
supply
reach
most
households.”
He
added
that
Mauritius
and
Malaysia
provide
clear
examples
of
countries
whose
development
is
reflected
in
tangible
quality-of-life
improvements
for
the
majority
of
citizens.
“Mauritius
provides
free
healthcare
and
education
to
all
citizens
and
its
per
capita
income
is
over
US$11
000.
Malaysia,
which
was
at
a
similar
development
stage
as
Zimbabwe
in
the
1980s,
now
boasts
modern
infrastructure,
a
thriving
industrial
base
and
a
per
capita
income
above
US$12
000,”
said
Chilumbo.
He
stressed
that
those
nations
are
globally
recognised
as
genuine
upper
middle-income
economies
“based
on
tangible
improvements
in
living
standards
for
the
majority,
not
only
the
elite
few.”
“Upper
middle-income
economies
are
defined
by
a
GNI
per
capita
of
at
least
US$4
500,
not
through
propaganda
meant
to
advance
Mnangagwa’s
ambitions
to
extend
his
tenure
of
office
unconstitutionally
using
state
platforms
such
as
a
pre-budget
seminar,”
Chilumbo
said.
The
AM
leader
further
accused
the
finance
minister
of
prioritising
political
loyalty
over
national
interests.
“The
AM
party
has
strong
evidence
that
Mthuli
Ncube
is
not
serving
the
interests
of
the
people.
He
is
serving
his
master,
Emmerson
Mnangagwa,
so
that
he
evades
justice
in
connection
with
the
Barbican
Bank
he
owned,
which
duped
Bulawayo
residents
of
their
hard-earned
money
and
never
refunded
them,”
claimed
Chilumbo.
Chilumbo
said
the
government’s
“middle-income”
narrative
was
part
of
a
broader
political
campaign
designed
to
justify
failed
economic
policies
and
maintain
power
under
the
guise
of
progress.
“Zimbabwe
cannot
claim
to
have
reached
middle-income
status
when
inflation
remains
high,
workers
are
underpaid,
hospitals
are
under-equipped,
and
millions
live
without
basic
services,”
he
said.
“The
government
must
stop
insulting
citizens
with
cooked-up
statistics.
We
live
this
reality
daily,
no
clean
water,
no
jobs,
no
electricity,
and
collapsing
infrastructure.
That
is
not
middle-income
life.
That
is
survival.”