Cathy Buckle's Weekly Letter from Zimbabwe !

Dear Family and Friends,

On the same day that President Mugabe clapped his hands, declared that he'd had an "excellent meeting" and stepped into a gleaming limousine, at least a hundred people clamoured outside a bakery in Marondera town. They were desperately waiting for the chance to buy a loaf of bread. There is now no bread at all in the town. Around the corner at the town's biggest wholesaler, at least fifteen men pushed huge flat trolleys loaded high with all the flour that was left in the warehouse.

It was only 9 in the morning and the electricity had already been off for three hours so it took a while for the news to trickle in that SADC leaders meeting in Tanzania had appointed South African president Mbeki to "lead the process of dialogue" between political parties in Zimbabwe. The words are a flat and hollow echo of past meetings of these Big Men who lead the sub continent. They hold no glimmer of hope, compassion or even empathy for another gathering crowd of sixty, then a hundred people waiting at the gates of the Grain Marketing Board in my home town on the same day. The people are dwarfed by four massive 30tonne trucks - 22 wheelers - also waiting to try and buy maize.

Later in the morning I hear the statement that the Big Men have made: "The extraordinary summit appeals for the lifting of all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe." There is still no electricity in the town, its been off for four hours now and I wander around a supermarket with a scrap of paper and I shake my head in amazement at what I find: bubble bath from Bulgaria; disposable razors from Poland; Band Aid plasters from Sweden; deodorant from France; welding holders from Germany; hair styling hot combs from England (still with the price sticker in British pounds attached to the box!) Sanctions, I ask myself? Where? Against whom?

I leave the supermarket and have to wash my hands from a bottle of water I keep for emergencies as there is, again, no water in the town.

At nine pm that evening, when local ZBC news has finished, the electricity comes back on at the end of the second power cut of the day. We've had ten hours without electricity that day and haven't even had the chance to get the propaganda bulletins. News comes though, one way or another: President Mugabehas been chosen by Zanu PF as their candidate for the 2008 elections. He will be 84 years old by then and will have been in power for 28 years.

I will be taking a short break for the next three weeks but wish all Zimbabweans, wherever you are in the world, a happy Easter and Independence. Aletter from the outside, looking in, will be written by my Mum, a Zimbabwean inthe Diaspora, and posted on the African Tears website for the next three weeks.

Until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy.

Copyright cathy buckle 31st March 2007 http://africantears.netfirms.comMy books: "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:orders@africabookcentre.com