The day fear paid a visit to Bulawayo
April 27th, 2010
Mugabe and Ahmadinejad at the ZITF
I wonder what it is that makes President Mugabe so terrified of his countrymen?
There were no less than three armoured personnel carriers parked alongside the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair during the visit of the much despised Iranian President.
Bristling with camouflaged military personnel the grey unimog tanks with fierce 20mm gun turrets pointed menacingly at the Trade Fair.
Yes, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, hated and reviled the world over by all except the radical extremists, officially opened the 2010 Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.
What a smear on the faces of the thinking people in Zimbabwe.
Ahmadinejad is renowned for his nasty bed fellows and has added Zimbabwe to his nest of “prestigious” countries-at-arms i.e. Cuba, Venezuela, Belarus.
There had been a lot of dissension amongst the Trade Fair officials as to the choice of guest, but as usual Mugabe got his way.
A small handful of Muslims chanted and sang outside the Trade Fair grounds, as Zimbabwe police, support unit and the army swarmed everywhere to protect the man. The President’s office worked its way round the city seeking fanatics who might have enough hatred for the Iranian president to try and destabilize the event.
Helicopters circled overhead, giant belligerent, clenched-fisted posters, quite out of character with the usual very business-like attitude of the ZITF, festooned every hall giving the fair a ‘Kim Jong Il’ atmosphere.
Hundreds of police in brand-spanking-new fluorescent sleeves, together with men brandishing automatic weapons, surrounded the fair and manned every intersection on the road from the airport to the fairgrounds.
Guards at Harare airport when Ahmadinejad arrived
There were men in dark glasses on every corner, Gucci shoes and Ralph Lauren suits were everywhere, and joy of joys – no electricity cuts while the president is in town !!
The Climate of Fear had the desired result: one was far too scared to even think about taking photographs of the armoured tanks.
To add insult to injury, Zimbabwe’s plan to host a North Korean soccer side for the June 2010 FIFA World Cup is re-kindling memories of the Matabeleland massacres in the 1980s, amid a current climate of political intolerance.
Teams were said to be practicing for the World Cup in Bulawayo’s Barbourfields Stadium, cherished sports field of every Ndebele who lost countless of their countrymen in the Gukuruhundi Massacres.
April 27th, 2010 14:12
Its all gross.
So many people still suffering.
Makes a person feel sick.
What cost to the country for all this ridiculous palaver?
What are ‘they’ scared of?
What about the ordinary people, especially the poor? Where do they fit in with this circus?
Where are their rights and access to ordinary services that should be provided for by the Government in an orderly and reliable manner?
Where are the rights of the ordinary people?
Where is their protection when horrific crimes are being committed against them?
Why isn’t the Iranian President taken to the rural areas and left to stay there for a few weeks, without an expensive ‘protection’ and entourage, to live, move and speak with the ordinary people there in the homelands and also with the poor in the cities, especially those who have had their homes demolished?
They are citizens of Zimbabwe and as important as the businessmen and exhibitors of International Trade Fair.
April 29th, 2010 01:09
What a travesty the show was for the president and his guest. Quite sure the people that visited were bused in by force.
A farce that proves how futile the politics of intolerance and greed can get. China, Iran and other Mugabe allies are not honest with the man. They are looting our nation to the marrow. And our president thinks he is among the revolutionaries. A joke not funny even to his own kids and his own conscience.
A looter continua.
May 13th, 2010 15:12
I have heard that Robert Mugabe’s military were trained by the North Korean military. Is this true?
He’s certainly got a bunch of pariahs for friends, that’s for sure.
May 19th, 2010 13:41
This is not to defend the Mugabe-Regime. But consider that in Western democracies with free elections etc. the security is even tighter.
akwaaba, afrikman