EDITOR - I happened to become enmeshed in the midst of a WOZA march this morning outside the ZESA headquarters in Lobengula Street.
Whilst querying my electricity account at the Zimbabwe Electricity power company, suddenly, as if by magic, I was surrounded by thousands of men and women waving banners and chanting!
It was an eerily chilling feeling being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I suppose it is one of the joys of living in a tyrannical dictatorship.
After my initial fear had ebbed I became enthused by the sheer weight of numbers and infectious pride of the protestors. It was, I gather, a ‘Power to Poor People’ Campaign.
There were hundreds of pamphlets festooning the streets after the protestors had scattered and I hastily stuffed one in my pocket to read at a more convenient time.
It was not the hundreds of singing and chanting folk who scared me but the sudden appearance of a number of support policemen in riot gear. Safely under their helmets and behind their visors, batons flailing down on the women and men, I was shocked and horrified at their brutality. They, the police, might have been carefully protected against hurt, but the brave WOZA men and women had little to protect their heads against the merciless onslaught of the batons.
Women with babies, without protection, young girls and young men, tried furiously to avoid the onslaught, scattering in all directions whilst the riot police revelled in their own disgusting behaviour. Faces twisted lasciviously and maliciously, the police loved every moment of their run in with the helpless, defenceless populace.
WOZA is a group of peace, they do not resort to violence. They sing and pray and sit down in the face of repression by the authorities. Their demands are always simple – peace, prosperity for the common people and love for their fellow man.
It was a sad day for me as I watched the face of repression portrayed at its most disgusting and vile.
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