Harare Review of Books

HRB attended the launch of Brooks Marmon’s Edson Sithole: Law, Liberation and the Cost of Dissent, an important and unique collection of selected writings by Edson Sithole, the Zimbabwean liberation struggle hero who disappeared without (official) trace on October 15, 1975, aged 40. Sithole was the second Black African, after Herbert Chitepo, to be admitted to the bar in Rhodesia. Speculation is that Sithole was abducted by the Rhodesian Special Branch, an internal security and intelligence force.

Brooks Marmon is a US historian who is affiliated with the University of Pretoria as a research associate in the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies. He holds a PhD in African Studies from the University of Edinburgh. He’s the author of Pan-Africanism Versus Partnership: African Decolonization in Southern Rhodesian Politics, 1950-63 (Springer 2023). He’s also held positions at The Ohio State University and the National University of Science and Technology (Zimbabwe).

This book was published by the South African Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Press in April 2026.

The launch was held at SAPES Trust in Harare, and was attended by family and associates of Dr Sithole, members of the public, and, initially, at the end of the street, helmeted and booted members of Zimbabwe Republic Police’s “riot” section.

Former ambassador Sekai Holland described herself as a beneficiary of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and expressed her surprise that Zimbabweans have not studied that era. Former ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa spoke movingly about Sithole’s role in the struggle, and offered his theories about why Sithole was disappeared.

Here’s the publisher’s blurb from the back of the book:

“Voices of Liberation: Edson Sithole-Law Liberation and the Cost of Dissent is both a tribute and a revelation. It charts the untold story of a revolutionary mind silenced too soon, bringing to life the ideas, legacy, and contributions Edson Sithole made to Zimbabwe’s national liberation struggle. He shattered intellectual barriers by becoming the first black person in southern Africa to earn a Doctor of Law degree. For nearly two decades, he was at the heart of the struggle, serving in key roles with the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) and African National Council (ANC).

This groundbreaking work restores Sithole’s voice through more than two dozen original writings, rare interviews, and meticulous research spanning three continents. It highlights four themes: his views on pan-Africanism, his experience as a political prisoner, his perspective on intra-nationalist factionalism (especially his long-running feud with Joshua Nkomo), and his search for a settlement with white Rhodesians.

Marmon’s account of Edson Sithole is at once groundbreaking and heartwarming, especially for those of us who encountered and worked briefly with this brave and courageous man during the Pearce Commission in 1971-1972, a turning point in the struggle for national independence in Zimbabwe.

• IBBO MANDAZA, Executive Chair, Southern African Political Economy Series (SAPES) Trust.

A compelling biographical portrait of an enigmatic hero of the Zimbabwean liberation struggle, who was abducted by Rhodesian agents in October 1975. His mysterious disappearance is one of the wounds of Zimbabwean history that has never healed.

• TINASHE MUSHAKAVANHU, Assistant Professor in African and African American Studies, Harvard University.