By A Correspondent-The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is under renewed fire for failing to pay pensions to nearly 400 workers it retrenched a decade ago, amid claims of political victimisation and neglect.

In July 2015, following the Supreme Court’s Zuva Petroleum ruling that allowed employers to terminate contracts with three months’ notice, ZBC laid off hundreds of employees.

Many of the retrenched workers claim they were targeted for perceived political dissent, union activism, or resisting editorial capture by ruling party loyalists.

One former employee has written a heartfelt open letter to ZBC board chair Helliate Rushwaya, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s niece, pleading for long-overdue pensions to be paid. “Ten years later, we are still waiting,” he wrote. “Many of us have died in poverty, while the corporation pretends all is normal.”

The broadcaster, once home to independent-minded journalists, has long been accused of using retrenchments and transfers to silence dissent and enforce editorial loyalty. 

Despite promises made in 2016 by senior ZBC officials that benefits would be settled, most workers received nothing.

With the government now forcing all motorists to pay ZBC licence fees, workers hope the broadcaster will finally meet its obligations. “We appeal to Ms. Rushwaya to act urgently. 

ZBC cannot continue broadcasting on the back of betrayed workers,” the former employee added.

The only senior official to show concern was former board chair Dr. Josaya Tai, who facilitated partial payments to a few. 

The rest remain in limbo.

Critics say ZBC’s financial woes stem not only from mismanagement but also from a culture of political interference, which prioritises propaganda over professionalism, at the cost of both workers and viewers.