Do you hear the people sing?

I say do you hear the people sing, but it is not the songs of angry men, it is the song of celebration. I went to Fourth Street with Birdlife people for the supposed march to State House this morning. We got there a little late and it seemed people were circling back already but there was an atmosphere of jubilation and camaraderie. On the way my friend got a phone call from her brother in Joburg as she had signed off on Facebook with the line, "I may be some time" - which I thought was very funny but her brother was slightly alarmed by. When we got to Fourth Street the road was full of people dressed in Zim flags and in high spirits. It was multiracial and I saw many people I knew. Various groups such as the womens' league of the war vets came parading past and people cheered them on.

There was a bit of confusion as to what exactly was going to happen. There was not much planned for after getting to State House and it seemed we were waiting for people to join us from Highfields. At one point a whole lot of soldiers suddenly appeared and were forcing everyone to sit on the ground. I found this a little tense and unsettling - we were reliant on the army going along with everything. An armoured vehicle eventually appeared and everyone leapt to their feet and cheered. It seemed to then trundle down along Fourth Street. There was then talk that the march was going to move to Rotten Row - whether to the ZANU PF headquarters or the municipal buildings I am not sure. We decided to head home. I have to teach this afternoon and have then got to do some work for the wetland group.

The army was directing traffic out and we ended up having to drive past State House where the soldiers were out guarding the perimeter - what they're guarding I don't know as Mugabe isn't there. It was amusing to note City of Harare out fixing potholes today of all days on Josiah Chinamano and driving past Old Hararians Sports Club there were people out playing cricket, the paradoxes of Zim.