A report demonstrating a recent study on risk aversion, Operation Murambatsvina [OM] had severe effects upon the population of Zimbabwe (Masunungure et al. 2017). The percentage of Zimbabweans that reported being “risk takers” in 1999 was 84%, but this dropped to a paltry 13% in 2005.The present study examined the changes in aspects of citizen agency – political participation, community participation, political trust and political affiliation – as well as lived poverty for three periods, 2004, 2005 and 2009.