SPECIAL COMMENT: Expect more of the same in 2024

By Brighton Mutebuka

Why I Chose To Be More Active On This Platform Last Year!

I have previously alluded to the fact that Dewa Mavhinga and Alex Magaisa, both late – did all they could to persuade me to be more active on Twitter as it used to be known as then but without any success as I was overwhelmed with work!

Then this past year, I suddenly had this urge to start writing – and did so furious that I ended up being accused of using AI by Hopewell Chin’ono before he unceremoniously blocked me!

I think the urge was simply a realisation of the power of mortality over us. I did not want it to be too late. On that score, I feel that there is more to come!

Do You Not Fear The Zim Regime?

Of course I fear it like many others. It has got a well deserved fearsome reputation. I have got many family members and friends from Uni and other walks of life who work for it.

They actually give me a heads up on the regime’s reaction to what I write hear – starting from the initial curiosity which gradually morphed into hostility as I started being perceived as a threat for simply writing objectively!

Unfortunately for me, the passion I have for writing is so overwhelming that it “trumps” any fear that I have for the consequences thereof!

As I gained traction on this platform, the despotic regime in Zimbabwe was spooked and started paying more attention not just on me but family members back home as well – and went to the extent of calling them.

They asked, what are his intentions? Does he want to run for office? Is he
@nelsonchamisa’s advisor? There is no point asking family members. I can address that hear.

I have neither the political profile nor the intention to run for political office in Zim. And no, I am not @nelsonchamisa’s political advisor either.

I am really not so very important as to cause the regime to devote a lot of resources on me! I am a political nonentity!

Without necessarily coming across as naive, I am genuinely hoping the regime will reconsider its position and I understand that I am harmless!

I just happen to simply enjoy reading, writing and analysing legal, sporting and political matters of the day not just about Zimbabwe – and have done so for many years without necessarily generating the attention that I am now generating.

I consider myself exceedingly fortunate that I went to Uni at the right time and managed to rub shoulders with some of the leading academic and political actors of the day and thus know a lot of them and have access to them!

The first political book I read was “The Struggle For Zimbabwe” when I was about 7 years old so I have been “intoxicated” with politics from a young age and this is just the beginning! Much more is on the way!

*Brighton Mutebuka is a UK based Zimbabwean lawyer