Zimbabwean voices carry an earthy, steady music, mbira rhythms of counsel and consolation. Sayings move with the patience of a drought-season queue and the sudden joy of first rains, valuing kinship, land, and the dignity of work. Elders speak in parables of cattle, clay, and stones; humor softens lessons, irony pricks pride, and courage walks quietly. Shona and Ndebele traditions honor hunhu/ubuntu, where a person is woven from others. Expect images of rivers and granite, fields and hearths, and a faithful belief that tomorrow is made together.
"The land is ours. It's not European and we have taken it, we have given it to the rightful people... Those of white extraction who happen to be in the country and are farming are welcome to do so, but they must do so on the basis of equality"
"We have said the first step was to designate the land, inform the owners. And the second would be to get the responses from the owners. And this will be openly done"
"Was it not enough punishment and suffering in history that we were uprooted and made helpless slaves not only in new colonial outposts but also domestically"
"True, some land was bought by a few Cabinet Ministers. They bought the land. No minister, to my knowledge acquired land which was meant for resettlement"
"People are free to campaign and they will be free to vote. There won't be any soldiers, you know, at the queues. Anyone who has the right to vote is free to go and cast his vote anywhere in his own area, in his own constituency"
"Our votes must go together with our guns. After all, any vote we shall have, shall have been the product of the gun. The gun which produces the vote should remain its security officer - its guarantor. The people's votes and the people's guns are always inseparable twins"
"If the choice were made, one for us to lose our sovereignty and become a member of the Commonwealth or remain with our sovereignty and lose the membership of the Commonwealth, I would say let the Commonwealth go"
"I wish to assure you that there can never be any return to the state of armed conflict which existed before our commitment to peace and the democratic process of election under the Lancaster House agreement"
"Countries such as the U.S. and Britain have taken it upon themselves to decide for us in the developing world, even to interfere in our domestic affairs and to bring about what they call regime change"
"I don't think Capote loved Smith. But he did make a deep connection. It upset some people, because that had never been the approach to journalistic crime writing, to look into the mind of the killer"
"He's got everything. He' not a great player yet because he hasn't won any major championships, but it's a matter of time. He's an outstanding talent. I didn't realize how tall he is"
