Snippets from Hon Job Sikhala’s epistle from prison…

Today marks exactly one and half years, that is, the full 18 months under persecution, incarceration in a meter by two and half meters solitary confinement in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison by the regime in Zimbabwe since my arrest on the 14th of June 2022.

During this period hot weather and electricity blackouts in the dark solitary dungeon where you can hold the thick of darkness, I wake up during the middle of the night, the room is fully flooded with my sweat, mosquitos having completed feasting breakfast, lunch and supper from my bare body.

I taught myself that decency is only for free. I am under repression and I must conquer the mental motives of my persecutors. What must be known my dearest friends is that there is no amount of suffering that I have not gone through in my life. I slept on an empty stomach days to no end, but was never tempted to steal from anyone all my life.

I, and my late parents labored in other people’s fields for school fees, food and clothing. Railway stations and bus terminuses became my shelter in search of a better life.

I used thatched slums built of poles as accommodation going to school. I used to travel 46 Kilometers daily to and from school, living in Zaka, walking round Siya Dam to Mazunguye Secondary School in Bikita. Crossing paths with hippopotamus from Siya Dam and Leopard harbored in the mountains separating Zaka and Bikita during dark hours coming from school. There is no difficult situation insurmountable to me

I am a typical field Negro. This must inform everyone about the comfort and satisfaction I get by living among the poor people. We share our poverty together. That is why I am passionately prepared to die for the poor and the downtrodden. They deserve complete protection and shelter from those who wield power.

I lived the experience and the new experience I am going through has strengthened me.