ENDURANCE FROM EXILE: A journey for Zimbabwe
Across the wind-brushed hills of Southern England this August, a quiet yet powerful act of defiance will unfold. Men and women, some exiled by violence, others by economic collapse, and many simply moved by solidarity, will walk 105 kilometres, from Brighton to Hampton Court. This will not be a festive march, but a solemn protest. They walk for justice. For remembrance. For a country they still love, even from afar.
This is the ZHRO Walk for Freedom, organised by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation (ZHRO), a UK-based diaspora movement committed to exposing injustice in Zimbabwe. At the helm are Rashiwe & Sarah Bayisayi, Josephine Jenje, Melody Magejo, plus John Burke, tireless organisers whose names are becoming synonymous with principled solidarity. Under their leadership, Zimbabweans in the UK have built more than a protest movement, they’ve built a moral force the world can no longer ignore.
The 105km Walk for Freedom is the brainchild of Rashiwe Bayisayi, a committed Zimbabwean activist in her own right. It was her vision to turn the pain of exile into purposeful action, transforming footsteps into a statement. What began as a personal idea [post 2016 Play Reactions] quickly evolved, through her determination, into a powerful collective action for justice, remembrance, and solidarity.
I first worked with John Burke during my tenure as Chairman of ZAPU’s Europe Province. We collaborated on a petition campaign challenging the British government, then led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to reconsider its draconian stance on Zimbabwean asylum seekers. At the time, many Zimbabweans were trapped in a state of limbo, their lives stalled by a painfully slow and opaque asylum processing system. Our petition also criticised the UK government’s silence in the face of widespread condemnation of Zimbabwe’s 23–24 August 2023 elections. Despite damning assessments by election observers from the AU, SADC, COMESA, EU, US, Commonwealth, United Nations, civil society organisations, churches, and independent monitors, the British authorities failed to act or even acknowledge the legitimacy crisis unfolding in Zimbabwe.
The truth is, exile was never a choice for most Zimbabweans, it was survival. What began as a liberation movement against colonialism mutated into a brutal betrayal. Zimbabwe didn’t transition from war to peace, it simply changed uniforms. The warlords who led the struggle refused to disarm their minds. They traded guerrilla camps for government offices but brought the same weapons: violence, fear, and repression. Power became their ideology. They didn’t lead, they ruled. They didn’t build, they looted. Zimbabwe’s collapse into dictatorship wasn’t a mistake. It was the logical outcome of men who never knew democracy, only domination. They chose power over principle. Silence over justice. And blood over ballots.
The wounds of that betrayal run deep: Gukurahundi. Murambatsvina. Stolen elections. Hyperinflation. Hospitals without medicine. Schools without books. Cities without jobs.
Broken promises. Broken dreams. Broken people.
It’s no mystery why millions fled, not because they wanted to leave Zimbabwe, but because the dream of a functional, liberated nation abandoned them first.
Yet exile has not extinguished the Zimbabwean spirit. It has refined it.
In London, Blackburn, Sheffield, Leeds, and beyond, Zimbabweans are rising. The upcoming 105-kilometre walk on 9–10 August 2025 is more than a symbolic gesture, it is a physical act of resistance. It declares: We may have left, but we have not forgotten. We will walk. We will speak. We will organise. We will pray, until our people are truly free.
ZHRO’s activism doesn’t end on the pavement. From embassy protests in London to petitions delivered to Downing Street, John Burke and his comrades are forcing the World to reckon with Zimbabwe’s truth. They are demanding justice for Gukurahundi victims in our lifetime. They are exposing stolen elections, silenced voices, and state brutality. And they are reminding us that true Pan-Africanism is not about geography, but about shared humanity.
Let us be clear: the struggle for Zimbabwe is not Zimbabwe’s alone.
- It is a global moral test.
- It is a measure of whether the world truly believes in human rights, or only when it’s convenient.
- Zimbabwe is not a forgotten corner of history.
- It is a frontline in the global fight against authoritarianism, corruption, and the weaponisation of poverty.
To stand with Zimbabweans is to stand with all who are oppressed. To Walk for Freedom with ZHRO is to walk for every displaced family, every silenced voter, every victim of post-colonial betrayal.
To ignore them is to fail, not just Zimbabwe, but the very idea of freedom.
So, what do we owe the next generation of Africans?
- We owe them truth, about how liberation was hijacked by ego.
- We owe them solidarity, not confined by borders.
- We owe them example, not empty slogans, but lived conviction.
- We owe them memory, because forgetting is how evil triumphs.
The revolution Africa needs today is not one of guns, but of ethics, intellect, and courage.
It won’t be led by ageing strongmen shouting into stadium microphones. It will be led by ordinary people raising awareness and conscientising the next generation on progressive ideals by walking 105 kilometres in quiet, relentless endeavour.
John Burke and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation are showing the way.
The rest of us must catch up.
For more on the Walk for Freedom, or to join in solidarity, visit zhro.org.uk
