ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jacob Chikuhwa holds degrees in economics and international relations from the Kiev Institute of National Economy in the Ukraine and the University of Stockholm in Sweden. A Zimbabwean national, Chikuhwa has lectured on economics, finance, and administration both in Zimbabwe and Sweden. In April 2005, he lectured at The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs, New School University, in New York.

After having worked as an economist and administrator in the public and private sectors for over 30 years, Chikuhwa has turned to writing full-time. His works include Zimbabwe: The Rise to Nationhood, A Crisis of Governance: Zimbabwe, A Cheer for Sanity, Zimbabwe at the Crossroads, A Thought for the Day and Shona Proverbs and Parables. He is currently working on other titles, namely: Zimbabwe: Beyond a School Certificate, In Communication with the Deceased, The Pendulum and Venturing into the Unknown (Kumaziwandadzoka), a film script on HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe.

Jacob Chikuhwa was exposed to political influence as his father (c.1879-10 March 1972) was a headmaster for twenty-four years. At an early age, his father used to tell him and his twin brother, Esau, of the early hunters and then the Pioneer Column of 1890. At a tender age during the creation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953, Jacob Chikuhwa was made to understand the underlying political ideology of the federation. His father articulated the notorious ‘Partnership' political ideology of the so-called ‘horse and rider' partnership, where the rider was the European and the horse the African.

At a young age, Jacob heard a lot about the Mau Mau in Kenya. General Dedan Kemathi, who was captured and hanged by the British and Jomo Kenyatta’s exploits in the Mau Mau war against the British, had a big impact on Jacob’s and other students’ political thinking. They were able to understand that although the Gold Coast (later to become Ghana in 1957) pursued a non-violent process of decolonisation, the armed struggle in Kenya was a justified method of liberation.

One morning in early 1959 when they got to their classroom, Jacob and his fellow students were informed that their Latin teacher, Mr Zechariah Gwanzura had been arrested. Alarmed by civil disturbances north of the Zambezi and by supposed subversive influence of the African National Congress (ANC), particularly in rural areas, Edgar Whitehead's government declared a state of emergency and arrested nearly 500 ANC leaders in a sudden morning sweep on the 26th of February 1959. The government banned the ANC, later passing the Unlawful Organisation Act further to restrict ANC leaders. The arrest of their teacher was like a ‘personal affront’ which radically changed their thinking in favour of confrontation as a method for fighting against colonial rule in Southern Rhodesia.

The formation of the National Democratic Party (NDP) in January 1960 as the successor to the banned ANC had a big impact on Jacob Chikuhwa and other students. The NDP differed from its predecessor, the ANC, in making a more direct attack on the constitutional basis of minority rule. In December 1961, just nine days after the government had banned the NDP, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) was formed. ZAPU adopted virtually the entire organisation, leadership and goals of the NDP. By this time Jacob Chikuhwa was deeply involved in political activities against colonial rule in Southern Rhodesia as a member of the youth league.

After the banning of ZAPU in September 1962, there was a split in the African nationalist movement, with the radical leadership forming the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in August 1963. The immediate issue leading to the split between ZANU and ZAPU was disagreement over the continuation of 'reformist’ politics within Southern Rhodesia. ZANU's constitution broke with the past by announcing 'direct confrontation’ as a method of opposition to European rule. 'We are our own liberators’ became the party's slogan.

In 1964, Jacob Chikuhwa was arrested and sent to Wha Wha Detention Camp as a result of his involvement in political resistance against colonial rule. After his release in 1965, Jacob could not find any employment since all ‘prison graduates’ were regarded as dangerous elements in the Rhodesian socio-political system. In 1966, Chikuhwa went underground and emerged in Zambia, which had attained independence in 1964. In 1967, Chikuhwa got a scholarship to study in the former Soviet Union.

During his studies, Jacob Chikuhwa continued to be involved in the nationalist liberation movement by participating in students’ unions and other activities to raise awareness of the situation in Rhodesia. After completion of his studies in 1972, Jacob sought political asylum in Sweden. In Sweden, Chikuhwa was ZANU’s publicity secretary in the Nordic, Austria and West Germany between 1974 and 1976. He helped establish a monthly journal, Zimbabwe Chimurenga/Impi yeNkululeko (Zimbabwe Revolution). It is as the editor of the journal that Jacob Chikuhwa became interested in research in the socio-political developments of Zimbabwe.

After his return from exile in 1981, Chikuhwa continued to gather data for his first book on Zimbabwe published in 1998. He has been able to take advantage of his close contact with political leaders both in the Zimbabwean Cabinet and government administration, some of whom he knows on a personal basis during his spell in detention and in Sweden. Chikuhwa was in Zimbabwe when the first popular opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was inaugurated in September 1999. He participated in both the June 2000 parliamentary election and the March 2002 presidential election. Jacob Chikuhwa suffered the effects of violence during that period.