16/05/2026
STUBBORN MAN WHO DEMANDED TO SEE PRESIDENT MUGABE IN 96..
By Cde Spotless Cordless...
One sunny afternoon in 1996 when I was still working in the security sector we got a very unwelcome visitor at President Mugabe' s Munhumutapa office.
The man demanded to see the President. He was told of the procedure but he insisted saying it was urgent.
The young soldiers lost their patience with him and started pushing him around and ordered him to sit down. I was their superior so I told them to stop.
I ordered the man to follow me so we could talk aside.
He didn't want to give me any details.
He wanted to meet the President- alone!
I made calls to my superiors and they denied him access.
He just looked at me and said " I will be at Harare Gardens until the President sees me."
He left.
We ordered someone to follow him and monitor his movements and try to get his identity.
We gained no new intelligence.
The man sat in Harare Gardens, ate food , read a book , newspapers and didn't entertain anyone.
By day 3 the President knew about the man. He asked that the man be interrogated on what he wanted to say.
The man was threatened with arrest..
He defended himself. I have no crime. I want to see my President.
It was on the 4th day, a Friday that the President finally gave in. The man looked clean and smart , there was only one further request, we couldn't let him speak to the president alone.
Some security detail had to be there.
The President nodded towards me.
I wasn't that senior though and I started to offer an excuse but the President brushed it off.
We didn't go to the President's office but some other office there.
I sat a few meters away from them.
The man didn't smile or seem intimidated by the President at all.
His handshake was brief and strong.
"Makadiiko President, " he began.
His voice was firm and strong.
The President greeted him warmly then told him to speak.
He lowered his voice as if he didn't want me to hear but I still heard it anyway.
"Mr President, I am a dreamer.
I see the future in my dreams. I saw troubling times ahead . Worthless money being thrown away like paper...
"
The President looked as if he was about to laugh " Inflation..?"
" Yes , but much worse than that. No food . People starving. Long queues. Much worse than 92..."
"Go on. What will cause it?"
"Land. Mr President. You want to take land."
Here the President was visibly angry.
" You have been reading the papers. You know I have never backed away from that issue since the days of Chimurenga. You don't think I will stop because of you. Who sent you?"
The man was calm.
" President, I am of no influence. I see the future. Not influence it. I know nothing will stop you from taking the land. Nothing. It's already going to happen.."
There was a brief silence. The President was studying the man.
"We will be successful", he promised.
The man smiled at last, a sad smile.
" Yes, it will be very painful. But successful it will be . After a long , long time. It's not easy Mr President. And the nations will fight us and criminalize your name. You will be called names.."
Time stood still.
The President appeared bored, like he had heard it a million times.
He slowly tapped his leg on the carpet.
The man breathed and paused.
He looked as if he was about to say something but couldn't have the courage to say it.
The President noticed it and nodded, "eh?"
"You will leave office, Mr President.."
I almost laughed. Wasn't it clear that at some time the President had to leave office?
But the man continued.
"It won't be pleasant. There will be military tanks in the street and crowds insulting you until you write a letter .."
The President was furious .
" Stop it at once!"
The man stood up to leave.
I ordered him to sit down.
He continued as if in a trance.
" The year 17"
I calculated. The President had been in office since 1980 so did he mean 1997?
The President stood up and dismissed the man. I was told to make sure he went away safely.
We didn't even know his name. It didn't seem to matter. He walked off into the crowds of Harare, never to be seen again.
97 demos came and went. 2000 land invasions. I thought that what he had dreamt about. Currency weakened. 2002 drought 2004 inflation
2008 drought , hyperinflation and economic collapse. Starvation. Violence.
Still the President remained in office.
Then in 2017 it all made sense.
Tried to find the man but it was fruitless.
Wherever he is , his courage and his ability to dream and foretell the future noone knows.
Sometimes I wonder why we didn't even ask for his name. Why were we so careless? What made us allow him to see the President without producing identification? We only searched him and he had nothing harmful on him, only a Shona novel with the title Pafunge.
Nothing in that novel seems political.
Or maybe we missed something?
