- Dear Family and Friends,
-
- Despite targeted sanctions and travel bans, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe was this week in New York where he addressed the
United Nations General Assembly. President Mugabe's characteristic attack
against the West and in particular against Bush, Blair and the Iraq war
allies, drew applause from delegates. Back home we didn't have much to
clap about and in fact, in my home town of Marondera, we've been wringing
our hands in despair, shaking our heads in wonder and muttering in disgust
ever since last Saturday.
-
- It was the annual Marondera Show last weekend and part
of the entertainment involved displays by the army and airforce including
a mock battle. Under normal circumstances there would be helicopters and
a lot of noise and smoke but there shouldn't be blood or injuries. Like
everything else in Zimbabwe now, there was nothing normal about what went
on in Marondera last Saturday. No one really knows what happened but the
mock battle started and somehow a few live bullets had been loaded instead
of blanks and suddenly people in the crowd of spectators were being
shot.
-
- Eyewitnesses said that people were screaming and running
in all directions and that it was utter chaos. One eyewitness, a teacher
accompanying school students to the show, said she saw a woman who had
been shot in the chest and a man who appeared to have been shot in both
legs. Two teenage girls standing next to the army display were both shot
in the legs. Others reported seeing two soldiers being covered with white
sheets and loaded onto a helicopter but no one knows the condition of these
men. There has been very little news in the state media about the event,
but at least 14 people were shot, four of whom appear to have been
children.
-
- All week the gossip and rumour in Marondera about the
shooting has been escalating and the quieter the government and army are,
the more we have speculated about what really went on. No one can
understand
how live bullets accidentally got mixed in with blanks, or how any trained
soldier could mistakenly load a live cartridge instead of a blank. Some
people think it was just gross incompetence and negligence but others
believe
it was actually an assassination attempt on the provincial Governor who
was one of the spectators.
-
- The Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, Major
General
Sibanda, visited the injured at Marondera Hospital during the week and,
according to the Herald newspaper gave the patients Bibles, fruits and
get well soon cards and said: "What happened was an accident which
has never happened before since Independence. We have come here because
we are human and feel for the people who were injured in the
accident."
-
- A report in Thursday's Herald newspaper carries the
headline
: "Live cartridge found at mock battle site." What just one?
Is the question I ask myself.
-
- Dozens of people have emailed to ask if I had been hurt
in the incident. Thank you for your concern. My son and I were at the
Show but not at the time of the shooting.
-
- Until next week, love cathy.
-
- Copyright cathy buckle 25th September 2004.
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