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About the Blog
I have a simple and yet great vision; that information and knowledge taught and produced in universities should not be confined to university spaces, or academic journals and conferences. Instead, processes of knowledge sharing and production should move into and out of communities and peoples we research and write about. It is with that spirit, that this blog is animated, and therefore invites you. Whether you have a question, want to share your perspective, or just feel like starting a conversation, drop your comments in the chat below each blog, or email me :)
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From Condolences to Accountability: How Many More Zimbabweans Must Die?
With the death toll now at 94, with more people still feared still missing, what happened to the Mbuya Nehanda Passenger Ferry is extremely sad. I cannot find words to express my sorrow over the loss of so many lives, the psychological effects this will have on the survivors, the searing pain of loss and wounds that will plague many families, friends and communities, the country and humanity as a whole. Death, caused by whatever reason, is a phenomenon that causes humans to p
Jewel Damunesa
Aug 205 min read
How we inhabit space (Intellectually)
"...that the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse…" ~ Walt Whitman Uvela ngaphi? Uhlala ngaphi? Uya ngaphi? How we inhabit space itself is an act of intellect. Intellect is simply understood here using the Merriam Webster dictionary, as the power of the mind to think, understand and reason clearly. This blog started as an idea. If you stayed in Nkulumane 12 and we blind folded you, drugged you and took you to Pumula South, and woke you up. Would you actually
Jewel Damunesa
Jul 296 min read
Whispers of Hope…On men’s mental health month
“Not all who wander are lost…” ~ J. R. R Tolkein I have been struggling to write, hence the zero blogs over such a period of time. Also, the Zimbabwean political scene is…let’s not talk about that. I feel sick, literally. I have also been anxious, a lot – about the political future of Zimbabwe, about my own future, about the sheer senselessness of this humongous thing we call life! Nonetheless, here’s a blog…It’s going to be heavy and teary, raw and emotional, or even enlig
Jewel Damunesa
Jun 287 min read
46 Years on, Are we Uhuru yet?
“The hardest lesson of my life has come to me late. It is that a nation can win freedom without its people becoming free…” ~ Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (Father Zimbabwe) When the fruits of hard earned independence do not materialise socially, politically and economically, any grandiose celebration becomes nothing but an empty (and humiliating) public ritual – a display of glory and freedom that is nowhere to be seen. We reduce a national celebration to a display of the we
Jewel Damunesa
Apr 213 min read
Against the Architecture of Blind Obedience: An Ode to Blessed Geza, an Ode to a Free Mind
It’s Happening by Blessed Geza, YouTube, 2025. I miss the smell of books, of khaki and plastic covers, the stubbornness of a stencil (which we called stencler, “istensla”) and the smell of the magic marker’s ink on the front of my School books. From Jewel Damunesa, Grade One Yellow, “Mrs Z” we’ll call her, to Jewel Damunesa, Upper Six A, Biology notes, the days preceding school opening were always filled with panic. Being the last child, I was assured of help, my siblings hel
Jewel Damunesa
Mar 76 min read
Democracy, Precarity, and the Question of Freedom: Are We Ever Truly Free?
Participant of a demonstration in favour of Zimbabwe’s independence from British rule. Image via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-2.0, https://bit.ly/religion-zim "Zimbabweans are so smart and witty and able to weave together tons of situations and experiences into terminologies that are just utterly original" ~ Danai Gurira Is freedom the most desirable thing in the world, or rather in our lives? If it is not, I am pretty sure we can still count among the very important things we v
Jewel Damunesa
Feb 218 min read
Political Freedom Is Economic Freedom: Rethinking the Good Life in Zimbabwe
Supporters of President Emmerson Mnangagwa gather at an election rally in Marondera, Zimbabwe, July 21, 2018. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo I wrote before, on whether it really matters how long leaders stay in power if they deliver the economic progress the majority desires. What does it matter if Paul Biya rules Cameroon for 43 years, apparently winning every single election, provided he delivers what people desire economically (which he does not)? Or when Museveni of Uganda, w
Jewel Damunesa
Dec 3, 20257 min read
Mzilikazi’s Legacy: Alternative Histories and the Fear of Diversity
Photo Credit: ZimLive.com “Thousands of people marched to Mhlahlandlela to honour the founder of the Ndebele nation, King Mzilikazi, on September 6, 2025” The fear of celebrating the distinct culture of Mthwakazi and restoring traditional institutions like the house of Khumalo is rooted deeply in the political desire to retain a singular narrative of Zimbabwe. Which makes me wonder if simple, less diverse, more homogeneous societies are easier to govern? Or controlling vote b
Jewel Damunesa
Sep 9, 20253 min read
The President's Ex, the Opposition's Leader's Wife
“The problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power.” – Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Photo credit - Plug TV Enemies and friends alike are not eternal in Politics. Once close ally and personal physician to Yoweri Museveni, Dr Besigye, as recently as November 2024 was abducted in Kenya, detained and brought before a military court in Kampala, Uganda, facing charges including treachery and illegal possession of firear
Jewel Damunesa
Apr 29, 20255 min read
Feminism is for Everyone: Why We Must Ask 'Why?
In 2022, as the Junior Mayor of the City of Bulawayo, my first task was to accompany Old Mutual and the Amazing G foundation to Mbuyazwe secondary school on the outskirts of Bulawayo (but under the Khami Education District of Bulawayo.) I was asked to address parents, teachers, boys and girls about period poverty and the stigma that comes with menstruation. At first, I wondered why me? There were more female councilors than male councilors. However, the experience was not onl
Jewel Damunesa
Apr 4, 20256 min read
War Veterans, Zvigananda, Factional Infighting, and “buttocks instead of brains”
"The only 2030 he will see is half past eight on the clock..." ~ Blessed Geza. Left: Vice President Chiwenga Right: President Mnangagwa. Photo Credit: Newsday Zimbabwe Three weeks ago, war veterans, led by Blessed Runesu Geza (aka Comrade Bombshell), a war veteran of the liberation struggle, launched a scathing attack on President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa accusing him of surrounding himself with “corrupt gangsters who abuse National resources” while perpetuating “corrupti
Jewel Damunesa
Feb 21, 20256 min read
Mozambique's Bloody Election: The Revolutions That Keep on Repressing
Image: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters Dictators, for the purposes of stability and term longevity, tend to befriend other dictators, conspiring against their own citizens, consolidating their hold on power. In the last blog I spoke about the hegemonic collaborative efforts among the revolutionary parties in the Southern African region in crushing civil society and thus inhibiting democratization in the region. What is happening in Mozambique right now is clear evidence. In the same b
Jewel Damunesa
Nov 10, 20244 min read
Southern Africa at the Precipice of a Democratic Spring?
“This is the generation destined to liberate Africa from the shackles of oppressive and avaricious leaders…The new era is upon us, and we shall not falter.” – Jaara Niang What is interesting, and perhaps should invigorate us with hope, now more than ever, is that the hegemonic influence of ‘revolutionary parties’ in the Southern African Region is dwindling, remarkably, and the people will rule – democratization is (probably) nigh! The people will rule. Even with the hope that
Jewel Damunesa
Nov 2, 20244 min read
Why you should be political - and in fact, you already are!
"Man is by nature a political animal." ~ Aristotle The little boy that I once was used to wake up as early as 6 am to listen to the National Anthem – I was a child, with no concept of state symbolism and patriotism, the anthem was just an important song, like the ‘I believe’ and the ‘Our father’ and my ‘grade zero’ teacher said it was a song every Zimbabwean should know. ZBC had one TV station: for all age groups, for propaganda, entertainment and news. For that reason, my fa
Jewel Damunesa
Sep 27, 20245 min read
A reflection: Mthuli Ncube, Cowdray Park's Genie
Why did pouring 'millions' not work? One evening, as the tired citizens were returning to work, school, or just gallivanting in town, or more specifically, ngwavangwavaring (hustling), the traffic was slower than usual – men in green and orange reflective vests were directing the vehicles off the main road to a dirt road. For the first time in 20 years of my existence the road leading to Cowdray Park from ‘emaPholiseni’ (Luveve Police Station), through Emakhandeni, was being
Jewel Damunesa
Sep 17, 20244 min read
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