Letter to The Daily News (Zim) 4 December 2002

On the morning of Saturday 30 November 2002, as I watched the winding army convoys of our “gallant” warriors returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo campaign, I must confess that I did not feel a surge of patriotism. Rather, I was chilled to the bone, for this was not a celebration of the return of conquering and victorious soldiers. It was nothing but a blatant show of naked might and brute force designed to cower an already brutalised and highly disenchanted populace. It is now official. Zimbabwe is a police state and overwhelmingly repressive State machinery is in place, should people dare to speak out and stand up for their rights and dignity. The crunch is beginning.