Zimbabwe’s night orchestra

Dear Family and Friends

When you live in a country in a state of continual crisis and turmoil, it seems to be a need for self-preservation that stops people from following the news, ignoring the alarm bells and not speaking out. When all you can think about is surviving from one day to the next, democracy, freedom of speech and integrity fall by the wayside. As the end of the year draws nearer it’s appropriate to look back. Here’s what happened in 2024

We started the year with 1024% inflation, the highest in the world, calculated by Johns Hopkins Economist, Steve Hanke. At that time our largest denomination bank note was one hundred dollars and you needed 133 of them to buy a single loaf of bread. Teachers were still on a rolling go- slow because their salary wasn’t enough to even cover the transport cost to get to work. The alarm bells had been ringing for a long time and then came the inevitable news that only 29% of Zimsec O’ level candidates had managed to pass five subjects.

February saw 52-year-old opposition MP Job Sikhala finally released from prison after 595 days in what they called pre-trial detention. Dumped at night, on the side of the road, Job Sikhala was free at last and we watched a wonderful little video of him hugging his lawyer, Doug Coltart in the darkness. At the same time as that good news came, so did the bad. Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa quit the Citizens Coalition for Change without warning. Chamisa was declared as having won 43% of votes cast in the internationally criticized elections six months earlier; he said the percentage was much higher but did not challenge the results in court. In February 2024 Mr Chamisa said an imposter had infiltrated the CCC, destabilized and contaminated it. The alarm bells were deafening, suddenly we didn’t have an opposition leader and the vultures were moving in.

In March it was clear that drought had wiped out the crops. In my home area we had only had 16 inches (406mm) of rain when we would normally get 34 inches (863mm). Agriculture officials described the bulk of the 2023/2024 maize crop as a complete write-off.

April was just mayhem. The exchange rate jumped dramatically from 25,000 Zimbabwe dollars for one US dollar to Z$32,000 overnight and then four days later it jumped again to a staggering 40,000 Zim dollars to one US dollar. One moment we had just enough money for a month, the next moment we didn’t. Alarm bells were ringing. Without any notice, the government then announced that we had a new currency called the ZiG. Chaos followed. No one wanted the old ZWL currency but no one had the new ZiG currency. Stuck in limbo for ten days, nothing worked, not bank cards, internet banking, phone banking or mobile money platforms. Calculators in hand doing nightmare calculations, we watched in horror as prices soared.

In June dinosaur bones were found on Spurwing Island in Kariba. Named as Musankwa sanyatiensis, the 210-million-year-old Musankwa would have stood 1.5 meters high at the hips, walked on two feet and weighed around 386 kilos. That amazing news came at the same time as democratic space in the country shrank dramatically again. Former Senator and Cabinet Minister, Jameson Timba, and 77 youngsters were arrested at a private home in Avondale Harare where they had gathered to commemorate the International Day of the African Child. Charged with ‘participating in a gathering with the intent to promote violence,’ many of those detained were brutalized by police during the arrests.

In August President Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected Chairman of SADC. There was an extravaganza of spending, luxury and window dressing as SADC leaders met in Harare but not one of them said anything about over 100 people in prison without bail or trial.

By October the new Zig currency collapsed just five months after it had been imposed on us and it was devalued by 44%. That same month came the shocking news that the beneficiaries of seized farms could now sell those farms they had been given for free, despite the fact that those same farms were grabbed from legal Title Deed holders and are all still under contest from the Commercial farmers they were seized from.

To say that 2024 was a hard year for Zimbabwe is an understatement; we were all reduced to hand-to- mouth living and everything was in disarray from the economy and currency to human rights and freedom of speech with corruption continuing to spiral. But, as always, we look for hope and this mid-November the rain is pounding down in many areas; dry, dusty brown has turned to wet, clean and green. Paradise Flycatchers, Louries and Coucals are back in our gardens, fruit trees are full of plums, figs, apples and bananas and everyone everywhere is digging up the roadsides to plant a few lines of maize. From nowhere frogs have reappeared and alongside crickets, they are the orchestra of our nights, calming troubled minds and heavy hearts, the sound of their voices and the rain running down the gutters is divine.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my new evocative photobook “Zimbabwe’s Timeless Beauty The 2024 Collection” and my ‘Beautiful Zimbabwe 2025 Calendar.’ All year I tell you the hard, cold facts about life here but in these two publications I share my hope with you for this beautiful Zimbabwe we all love so much. Thank you all for your amazing support. Follow this link to get your copies, both are available exclusively on LULU: www.lulu.com/spotlight/cathybuckle2018,

There is no charge for this Letter From Zimbabwe but if you would like to donate please visit my website. Until next time, thanks for reading

Ndini shamwari yenyu (I am your friend)

All my books are available from my website https://cathybuckle.co.zw/ or www.lulu.com/spotlight/cathybuckle2018, or www.amazon.com/author/catherinebuckle Please visit my website for further details, to link into my social media sites, to contact me or to see pictures that accompany these letters https://cathybuckle.co.zw/