Harare revellers tell Mugabe to go
ZIMBABWE: Under grey skies and after a night of hot summer rain, thousands of Zimbabweans staged euphoric demonstrations all over the city of Harare and in other towns yesterday as they called on President Robert Mugabe to step down. Revellers sang, shouted, stamped and drank across the city in open defiance of their ailing 93-year-old leader after he was dramatically placed under house arrest following a military coup this week.
Never before, not even when Mugabe returned from exile in late 1979, has there been such public jubilation in Zimbabwe. By lunchtime, every street in central Harare played host to its own spontaneous celebration. Zimbabweans, both white and black, hugged, kissed and cheered. But most of all, they danced. One man leapt out of his car and danced in front of it for several minutes as his empty vehicle cruised down the street. Another stripped to his underwear and danced on his car roof.
Others danced on the roofs of buses. Drivers tooted their horns and flashed their headlights, gunning their engines. Such euphoric demonstrations would have been unthinkable before this week’s unprecedented series of events, as the military would have taken to the streets with tear gas and batons at the first sign of protest.
Instead, in extraordinary scenes on the streets of the capital, soldiers wearing the distinctive yellow berets of Mugabe’s personal guard bumped their fists with protesters and even posed for photographs. A few soldiers even waved national Zimbabwean flags handed out by protesters. ‘‘I don’t know what to say, except, thank you, thank you Zimbabwe Defence Forces,’’ Tawanda Mawire, 29, said. ‘‘It is such fun,’’ said a woman who was previously an organiser for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC. ‘‘There is no tear gas, no police, people are all friendly and we don’t care any more about the police and the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation).’’
Jeremy Jones, a white former farmer who was evicted during the land grab in 2000, said: ‘‘I walked all the way from Borrowdale (about six miles) into town to be with the people and to thank General Chiwenga for what he has done for us today.’’
‘‘It’s like a relief,’’ said 37-yearold Talent Mudzamiri. ‘‘Our voices have not been heard for a long time. The trend in Africa, when the people speak, they are not heard. The common enemy is Robert Mugabe. That’s for starters.’’ Mudzamiri went on to suggest that the people of Zimbabwe, emboldened by Mugabe’s seemingly imminent departure, were ‘‘going to come out again’’ if their next leader proved just as troublesome.
Several evicted white farmers, made homeless during the post2000 land grab, wrapped themselves in the Zimbabwe flag and sang along with the people in a city dominated by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC. Among them was Ben Freeth, a British farmer who was awarded an MBE in 2010 for his human rights activism in Zimbabwe. ‘‘This is an amazing opportunity. Let’s join hands in solidarity, all together with fellow Zimbabweans of all colours and political persuasions and march for freedom. We owe it to the future,’’ he said.
Senior Zimbabwean sources said that Zimbabwe’s ruling ZanuPF party would file an urgent application for Mugabe’s dismissal. Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking as vice president last week sparked the military intervention, would seek reinstatement on the same day. Mnangagwa’s plan to stabilise the country would involve the creation of a government of national unity, they added. - Sunday Telegraph