The essays
Thinking, in public.
Long-form writing on Zimbabwe, Africa, liberty, business and the odd corner of life that turned out to be interesting. Written to be read slowly.
10 essays
SIMBA, 60 days, and then the hard part
Nobody voted for Munhumutapa Day
The state sent 300 police to clear Harare's traders, then made the President's birthday a public holiday by decree. No vote. No consultation.
We are paying twice, sometimes thrice
You queue to buy the form that lets you join the queue. The passport office is not a passport problem — it is a governing philosophy, and citizens pay for it twice.
Zimbos Are Not Paralysed, We’re Just Not Stupid
A reply to the sermon that the diaspora is too emotional to invest at home. Caution after a country has robbed you twice is not paralysis. It is memory.
Zim’s Got 99 Problems, a 3rd Term Ain’t One!
The argument for a third term is an argument for making elections meaningless. Rules that bend once bend again.
Human rights violators must pay
After the abduction and torture of Joana Mamombe and two others: why Zimbabwe's civil damages law should reach the perpetrator's own pocket.
We are not savages
Zimbabwe went into Mozambique expecting a fast job. Nigeria's experience of Boko Haram says otherwise — a purely military answer makes the thing worse.
We should be moving forward
Written from Afghanistan as the MDC Alliance turned on itself: the 2018 election was a plebiscite of hope, and the party was busy squandering it.
Hello Citizens of the World
The first post, from South Sudan in 2012 — what this was going to be about.
Newsletter
Occasional notes from Chris
New essays when they are finished, plus the odd thing I have read that I cannot stop thinking about. Roughly monthly. Never more.
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