Stuck between a despot and a pothole
People in Bulawayo just aren’t used to motorcades.
On the way home tonight, friends were forced to veer off the main road into the lane for oncoming traffic. rgm had a fabulous day of ranting at the zanu thug congress in Esigodini and the mob were on their way home.
They didn’t know which illustrious VIP zanu criminal was in the leading group of vehicles, because bob usually moves around by helicopter, but because of the downpour he may have opted for a road trip home. Whoever it was, bob or perhaps joyce, was preceded by five cops on motorbikes, sirens were howling, the bulletproof bobmobile was surrounded on all sides by police cars and the rain was absolutely bucketing down.
A megaphone was blaring warnings to motorists to get out of the road, and everyone knows shots will be fired if response is not immediate. It was pandemonium because Bulawayo residents, unlike their counterparts in Harare, are not used to the presence of the presidential motorcade.
To add to the danger of the scene, the roads have developed severe pot holes, pockmarking the way since the torrential rains started almost two weeks ago.
Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic for that would have been certain death for my friends.
This man knows no bounds to his evil.
The country’s fuel supplies have all but dried up and this party of conmen, thieves and liars hog the roads in fuel guzzling American and European luxury vehicles.
The country is in the grip of a severe food crisis and zanu feast on hundred of kilos of meat and sadza, in the very heart of one of the nation’s poorest districts. The smell of that meat must have driven anyone in smelling distance completely insane with hunger.
The country’s food production has dropped dramatically and he predictably continues to blame the few struggling white farmers and western governments for the glaring mismanagement of the land grab and subsequent economic disaster.
The country is in a state of utter collapse, no food, no jobs, no social services, no press freedom, NO HUMAN RIGHTS, homes destroyed by the tens of thousands and he calls the United Nations representative a liar and a hypocrite.
Not so long ago bob told the world Zimbabwe would have bumper harvests, that he felt “choked” with all the aid and that Zimbabweans must eat potatoes. But now he so graciously accepts the desperately needed food the UN has been offering for months.
Then he ends the congress by applauding the confiscation of the passports of those he deems “enemies of the state” and just to top it off, he demands harassment and threatens closure of the very NGO’s that are struggling to keep Zimbabweans alive.
And so ended the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front congress today.
So much for International Human Rights Day.
December 11th, 2005 11:46
Keep up the struggle, and stay safe. Tyranny is destined to fail.
Bob’s motorcade can’t keep rolling forever, and when the wheels finally fall off, justice will not be far behind.
We’re with you, Sokwanele!
December 13th, 2005 04:38
Stuck between a despot and a pothole – if the situation was not so sad it would be a comedy. My office now read with interest and absolute facination as to the unbelievable behaviour of bob…. and half the staff come from what they believed to be oppressive regiems until you opened their eyes. However, they do find it hard to believe that such a catastrophy is possible in 2005!
We pray for you.
December 14th, 2005 14:16
[...] Meanwhile ZANU-PF is holding its’ People’s Congress in Esigodhini, a small town in Matabeleland where they’ve failed to mobilize any grassroots support. This is Zimbabwe notes how unusual it is for the people of Buluwayo to have the presidential motorcade commandeering city streets in the nation’s second city. “People in Bulawayo just aren’t used to motorcades. [...]