Blindfolds, Balaclavas, Abductions and Beatings
Dear Family and Friends,
A couple of days after my last Letter from Zimbabwe about the ruling party’s intention to amend the Constitution to extend presidential terms from 5 to 7 years and change the election of the President from a popular vote to a parliamentary vote, the nature of the beast has again been exposed for all to see.
Both the NCA (National Constitutional Assembly) and the CDF (Constitution Defenders Forum) publicly opposed the amendments and soon after that the horrors started. Yet again we are entering a time of masked, armed men, abductions, beatings and torture.
On the 18th February The CDF issued a report saying: “Yesterday evening Baird Gore of Glen Norah… was abducted from his home by several armed men driving a black Ford Raptor. He was blindfolded, seized and taken to an unknown location. …He was severely beaten and interrogated about CDF Convener Hon. Tendai Biti and the organization’s strategy to resist the unconstitutional 2030 Agenda.”
A week later, on the 26th February, press reports said that two members of the NCA, which is led by Constitutional lawyer, Professor Lovermore Madhuku, had been ‘taken’ by unidentified men. Mr Madhuku said: “We had just finished our meeting and two of our members were abducted and tortured. They were blindfolded and later dumped in Highlands without clothes.”
A few days later, on the 1st March, reports came that Professor Lovemore Madhuku had himself been attacked in the NCA offices in Harare. Later Mr Madhuku said: “We had called an NCA consultative meeting of the leadership from across the country and we were at our office. We wanted to look at the Constitutional Amendment No. 3 and we wanted to confirm our stance that we are opposed to it and we will do everything to stop it.”
Then men wearing balaclavas stormed in: “The five or so guys came in with balaclavas and ordered everyone to leave. Then they came straight for me and started beating me up. They were beating me all over with baton sticks.” Professor Madhuku added: “There were two police trucks parked outside, but the police said nothing. They just sat there watching.” (The police said later that they were not involved.) Mr Madhuku was taken to a local clinic for medical treatment and when he removed his shirt for journalists to see what they had done to him, the big welts criss-crossing his back told their own horror story.
Following the assault of Professor Madhuku voices have been raised. Advocate Fadzayi Mahere said: “The attack on Lovemore Madhuku is a dark stain on our limping democracy and a flagrant violation of the Bill of Rights.”
The Catholic Lawyers Guild in Zimbabwe said: “The reprehensible attack is not only an attack on Professor Madhuku and NCA officials but an attack on the rule of law, and indeed on every democratic value that our Constitution jealously guards.”
Amnesty International said: “This violent attack is a blatant violation of the rights to personal security, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. This assault is the latest outrage targeting critics opposed to changing the Constitution to allow the extension of presidential term limits.”
The ZCTU (Congress of Trade Unions) said “It is deeply disturbing that similar patterns appear several times during the current dispensation, and they keep on emerging. Zimbabwe cannot plausibly claim reform while reverting to methods that were internationally condemned.”
Before the attack on Lovemore Madhuku, Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations, the umbrella body of most churches in the country, issued a statement on the proposed Constitutional Amendments. It read in part: “The Church calls on Members of Parliament to stand on firm moral ground and decline to endorse these amendments. The Church calls on the President to resist the temptation to amend the Constitution for selfish ends.”
Thank you all for reading this Letter From Zimbabwe at a time when the world is in such turmoil. I wish I had any words at all to say about the war on Iran but there are none. I am tortured by the images of children’s coffins being carried through the streets, and sickened to watch a President talking about gold curtains and a ballroom when presenting Medals of Honour to army veterans, two of which were being awarded posthumously. Humanity, empathy and compassion seem lost; our moral compass seems lost.
There is no charge for this Letter From Zimbabwe but if you would like to support my work and donate please visit my website.
Until next time, thanks for reading this Letter From Zimbabwe now in its 26th year, and my books about life in Zimbabwe, a country in waiting.
Ndini shamwari yenyu (I am your friend)
Love Cathy 5th March 2026.
Copyright © Cathy Buckle https://cathybuckle.co.zw/
To see the photograph accompanying this Letter, the archive of my previous Letters and to see and order all my Books, Photobooks and Calendars, please visit my website https://cathybuckle.co.zw/ or my publishing spotlight: www.lulu.com/spotlight/cathybuckle2018