We’re back to ‘clearing out the trash’
This week I was amazed at the level of horror that has become a normal part of daily life here in this country in a report from the usually pro government mouthpiece, the Chronicle. At times they actually do report the truth and I was horrified to have verified our housekeeper’s tale that the police were rounding up the many people who have been forced to resort to life on the street by the ineptitude of our so called leaders.
Blind beggars, street kids, mentally ill individuals, many of whom are in the last throes of AIDS, starving destitutes, from small kids to geriatrics, were thrown into the cells in a bid to clean up the city for Trade Fair 2006 – the non event of the year. These “criminals” were apparently released after a couple of days for the cops have neither the budget nor the resources to feed them.
Trade Fair used to be an event we all looked forward to because the city would get its annual spruce up in its preparation, traffic increased to a buzzing level and visitors would bring a different energy to our sleepy home, arriving from all over the world to exhibit their wares. Kids would race to the Luna Park with its rides and candy floss and there was always the end of the fair’s music festival.
This year the Fair is but another sad reminder of what could have and should have been, and yet another opportunity for the bullies in power to mete out punishment on the country’s persecuted and impoverished citizens.
April 24th, 2006 04:22
It’s amazing to hear how far Mugabe will go to turn Harare into a potemkin village. And it only adds to the already apparent fact that the government is more interested in keeping up the facade of a functioning state than it is in attempting to solve the problems that plague the country.
May 1st, 2006 12:13
[...] This is Zimbabwe has many interesting posts including reports that “We’re back to clearing out trash,” and that the infamous riot police recently went on rampage attacking students at the University of Zimbabwe. [...]