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 […]

90 days to stop the coup on Zimbabwe’s Constitution Dear Family and Friends, Zimbabwe finally woke up this week. Voices were raised, meetings were held and Press Conferences convened. “We will die for this Constitution,” was the phrase we heard and we knew, at last, that the voices of opposition were back. Leadership was back. […]

The Rule of Law or the Rule of Men? Dear Family and Friends, Turning the corner in a remote rural area I was faced with a giant pothole full of red muddy water which spanned the entire width of the road and looked three or four meters long. Three men were sitting in the open […]

Scandals, Whispers and Missing Goats Dear Family and Friends, Planes and cars, fuel, airports, roads and railways, land, farms and housing, grain, agricultural inputs and machinery, steel, timber, gold, diamonds, refuse trucks, electricity, cancer machines and covid masks ….. the list goes on and on of the corruption scandals that have brought shame upon shame […]

Little Window Of Hope Dear Family and Friends, For a quarter of a century Zimbabweans have been on the move, many literally running for their lives, leaving not by choice but from necessity. As our country has stumbled from one crisis to another since the year 2000, millions of Zimbabweans have left in order to […]

When Gifts Are Not Gifts Dear Family and Friends, Come and sit with me under the Msasa tree, where the new leaves are soft and green, and listen to my strange story where nothing is as it seems and where a gift is not a gift. Sometimes eyebrows go up, often times lips are sealed […]

Critical Minerals Or A Loaf Of Bread Dear Family and Friends, I woke up early to go outside in the freezing pre-dawn cold to see if I could see the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter low on the north east horizon. It was easy to spot the beautiful Venus, so long my comforter through decades […]

Thumb Power And ‘Using Our Airwaves’ Dear Family and Friends, On a beautiful winter day in Zimbabwe I set out to visit a friend 100 kilometres away. Life is very tough here now and I had a big bag of fruit for her on the back seat of the car and a few dollars tucked […]

Zimbabwe’s Polar Bear Club Dear Family and Friends, Come with me to the mountains in Zimbabwe this week. This is the place where the roads wind and curve and bend as you get ever higher and the views are spectacular. Rolling hills and vast green valleys, steep cliffs and deep gorges, silver streams and rushing […]

Fighting Talk In Frightening Times Dear Family and Friends, Come and sit with me on the banks of the beautiful Runde River in the lowveld today. It helps you forget, for a little while anyway, the very alarming situation unfolding in Zimbabwe this April 2025. I should be telling you about a failed attempt to […]

  It is you who have carried me Dear Family and Friends, Since my last Letter From Zimbabwe, the promised ‘uprising’ called for by war veteran Blessed Geza who urged citizens to undertake nationwide street protests on the 31st of March did not happen and instead turned into a nationwide shutdown. Ten days ago, there […]

Of Sugar, Sugar Tax and Passing the Buck Dear Family and Friends, This is a Letter about sugar, what’s happening to the people that grow and mill it, the government’s sugar tax, the money it raised and the questions that don’t leave a sweet taste in your mouth at all. Almost a year ago, In […]

The Ghost Bird and the Bizarre Back-pocket Dear Family and Friends The Ghost Bird sings often on these cloudy January mornings in Zimbabwe and is true to its name. Its call is a single, piercing, clear note. Described as a ghostly mournful whistle, the Ghost Bird’s distinctive call should make it easy to see but […]

The Beating Heart of Every Zimbabwean Home Dear Family and Friends, Long time readers of my Letters From Zimbabwe will recall very early stories from our invaded farm in 2000 with mentions of my 6 year old son Richie. That was a very, very tough time for us. How do you explain to a little […]