The nature of my job is crazy in a way. When its time to move, you just pack and go, sometimes without saying Good bye. This time around things were different because by 31 September, I knew I was moving and I knew where I was heading to. Sometimes, you dont end up where you were initially supposed to be so I had to wait and be totally sure that the trajectory and landing zone was still the same. Good Bye Plumtree. There were bad moments and there were good moments. As I leave, I carry good memories with me. The people both locals, my colleauges and the general public are just fantastic and as I reflect – I am going to miss you all.
Covid-19 had a huge impact on my writing.
I simple hit a writer’s block as the shock of the pandemic sinks in – I lost some very people who were close to me. In my long periods of longitude, I would rather read than write and I read quite a lot during the period I didn’t have the energy to write.
in December after I had gone through the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) 2021-2025 and the Zimbabwe 2021 National Budget I read former US President, Barack Obama’s The Promised Land, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude and John Bolton’s The Room Where It Happened. I still look forward to read Obama’s Book Two of his White House time as a two-time President. I am disappointed though that outgoing President Donald Trump has been potrayed, by her niece, in Too Much and Never Enough, as someome who pay ghost writers. I would have been looking forward to reading his Memoirs as well.
My disappointment extends beyond Trump’s ineptitude – very few of our own Zimbabwean politicians don’t aspire to share with the generality of the population their experiences while in service. We need to know about their experiences. There exceptions though, people like Aurther Mutambara, David Coltart, Tshinga Dube, Cephas Msipa are a few exceptions among our politicians. On the business front, Gedion Gono had a book, Zimbabwe’s Casino Economy, I hope other economists will write their Memoirs too. I hope this blog will form the basis of my own Memoirs when the time comes. Scholar- officers – we are only a few I guess.
As 2020 draws to the end, I wish you all a happy festive season and a happy New Year. 2020 has proven to be a tough year.
Please note that this will be my last instalment of Joe’s Stories From Plumtree.
Maybe I will decide to do Joe’s Stories from Bulawayo or I will do a Joe’s View From Matopos.
PLUMTREE, It was good while it lasted.
The Truth! 