Gang of soldiers assaults innocent residents in Kuwadzana

By Tererai Karimakwenda
7 August 2006

A group of soldiers is reported to have assaulted innocent civilians in the Kuwadzana high density suburb of Harare on Friday after one of them was humiliated in a fight with the owner of a minibus. Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa reports that a soldier got on a minibus bound for Kuwadzana from the city centre and demanded that the conductor lower the fare from Z$200,000 to Z$100,000. Muchmewa said the owner of the vehicle happened to be on board and he refused to lower the fare because he would lose money. The soldier continued to argue then ordered the owner to do as he was told. According to Muchemwa the argument led to a fight and the soldier was humiliated. But this was only the beginning of much more violence.

Muchemwa said the soldier returned to the bus rank at Albion and Chinhoyi streets later the same day along with at least 2 truckloads of soldiers from his barracks. They shut down the bus rank and began assaulting innocent commuters. Muchemwa said the soldiers proceeded to Kuwadzana 2 shops where they shut down many businesses and randomly assaulted anyone in their path. The soldiers went on to Kuwadzana 4 where Muchmewa said they destroyed a minibus with rocks and assaulted more innocent civilians.

Muchemwa told us he does not believe the attacks were ordered by a higher authority. He said many believe the humiliated soldier got a few of his colleagues together to revenge the beating he had received on the minibus bound for Kuwadzana. This is why the assaults were directed at Kuwadzana residents and not anywhere else.

Muchemwa said soldiers are feared by Zimbabweans these days because of their violent behaviour, particularly when they are drunk in the local pubs and “shabinis”. He said they have the same reputation as the government’s youth militia squads which people have nicknamed the “green bombers”. They are known to step beyond the bounds of their duties, assaulting people and stealing with impunity. Muchemwa said the current search by the Reserve Bank for people with illegal currency has become the running excuse for the soldiers and green bombers to harass innocent Zimbabweans.