"The soldiers," says a local Salesian, "have emphasized they only want to clean up the President's entourage. They have called them 'criminals' because they are not sensitive to the suffering of people. I won't mention names. Even if we know them, and whether it was a coup or not, at this moment in time, it does not matter. The fact is there were no deaths involved, nor was anyone even wounded."
In Bulawayo, the country's second largest city, some Salesians who were traveling found two roadblocks, but the situation looked serene. "The military were very kind, the soldiers introduced themselves, said their name, asked for our documents," said the religious.
People are calm and hope the process will be defined as soon as possible. The military have promised to form a provisional government with elections they have announced for March. "We are waiting to hear the announcement, which should be at any moment now, of how the new interim government will be composed, who will guide it, and how long it will last ... Saturday, there was a demonstration in Harare in support of the Armed Forces," said the Salesian.
In the meantime, he has already drawn some conclusions: "The process is irreversible and must go on. People are happy with something that was supposed to have been done long before and which they have been waiting many years for. Within two hours, I will celebrate Mass and I will pray that the President agrees to retire peacefully."
The Superior of the "Mary Help of Christians" Vice Province of Zambia-Malawi-Zimbabwe-Namibia (ZMB), Fr Krzysztof Rychcik, having received information from inside the country, commented: "People are full of hope and peaceful expectations that all will be well. We continue to pray for our suffering people of Zimbabwe who deserve freedom, peace and economic prosperity."
