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About

Ken Mufuka2.jpg

Growing up in Zimbabwe, Ken Mufuka knew he was born to be a story teller. At the age of 15, at Mazoe Secondary School, he was seconded to work with the famous Dr. Solomon Mutsvairo who was at that time writing the classical book FESO, which became the nationalist handbook. Mutsvairo was also translating the Salvation Army Hymnbook from English into Shona. After graduating from the University of Rhodesia, Ken returned to Mazoe Secondary School as a history teacher and as fortune had it, lived n his old master’s house. Ken was so good with his story telling that any ill-behaved student felt severely punished if excluded from the story-time.

He left Mazoe for St. Andrews University in Scotland to study for a Master of Letters degree. St. Andrews had a unique method of teaching its graduate students. The student wrote an essay, which was graded by three “Masters.”if the essay was acceptable, the student was required to attend a weekly tea with his professor in the faculty room, after which he spent an hour at the inquisition sofa in the professor’s office. In the long run, the student learnt to avoid puffery, kept strictly to the subject at hand, and intuitively began to spot out arguments that could provoke the professor’s inquisitor mind.

This strict discipline explains why Ken’s-Letters from America-in Zimbabwe”s Sunday Mail became popular with high school students studying for their Cambridge External Examinations as model essays.

After teaching in the West Indies and in the US, Ken returned to Zimbabwe for a brief two year period, 1982-1984. At that time, Prime Minister Robert Mugabe said that he was an avowed socialist.

Disappointed at the foolishness of such a policy, and recognizing that Zimbabwean socialists were nick-named the WaBenzi (lovers of Mercedes Benzes) he returned to the US where he continued with his weekly column.

The Letter from America became Ken’s trade mark. It moved to the Financial Gazette in 2002. It was acclaimed by Reuters International (1991) and received several awards in due course.  In a series of books,  Matters of Dignity (1984)) Matters of Dignity (1992) which was recognized as one of the Best Books of Africa by the British Council (2002) and his latest, Life and Times of Robert Mugabe, 1982-2017: Dream Betrayed (with Cyril Zenda), Ken has established himself as Zimbabwe foremost writer of conscience.

In all Ken has written nine books and numerous learned essays, has kept his contacts with learned organizations such as the Canadian Association of Scottish Studies, the Southeastern Association of African Studies, the US Historical Association, African Studies Association of the West Indies, Sons of Great Zimbabwe, and is a member of the Supreme Council of Nubia.

A practical Christian, he founded a Precious Kids Program at Trinity Methodist Church in Greenwood, South Carolina, is a lay servant of the United Methodist Church, served and was chairperson of the South Carolina Equitable Compensation Commission which advises the bishop. Ken is a member of the Fellowship of Emaus, a Christian organization dedicated to servant-hood.  He is also a servant of the We Can Make A Difference program for children in South Carolina. He founded the Mashura and Ken Mufuka Scholarship which has sponsored more than fifty Zimbabwe students to study at Lander University since 1984. The Mufuka Foundation, based in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, was created in 1991 to provide seed money when Mucheke High School library was destroyed by fire and to console its headmaster, Joseph Mushuku, who was inconsolable at this disaster. The organization remained to provide bursaries for poor students at Mucheke, Howard Institute, Mazoe Secondary School and other schools in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe.

Ken lives in South Carolina with his family.

Read his latest book on Robert Mugabe with a handkerchief in your possession.

If this book does not make you angry or make you cry, you are not human.

Ken’s books can be found at kenmufukabooks.com or you can communicate at mufukaken@gmail.com or at mufuka.k.@yahoo.com

Ken Mufuka

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