Zim: Soldiers riot, beginning of the end?

In a significant setback to Robert Mugabe's regime, uniformed soldiers have for the first time rioted in the centre of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, after trying to withdraw cash from a bank that had run out of money.

Emerging details of the riots will embolden Zimbabweans ahead of protests planned for Wednesday by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions against a government policy that stops people from drawing more than 500,000 Zimbabwe dollars (27 cents US$) from banks per day. The rioting marks the first time the low morale of the rank-and-file has exploded into public violence.

Witnesses said about 70 soldiers, believed to be from Harare's main KG6 barracks, turned violent after spending Thursday queuing at the main branch of the Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group. 'They stayed in the banking hall at closing time,' a staff member said. 'At about 4.30pm we told them there would be no money, and they ran amok. They insulted the staff, then went outside and smashed the windows.'

The group moved on to Roodepoort bus station, a few blocks away, where they assaulted black-market currency dealers and robbed them.

A soldier, who declined to be identified, told a local reporter: 'We have no food in the barracks. There is no medication in military hospitals, and we cannot access our money in the banks. Even if people are to riot, there would be no enthusiasm to stop them.'

Zimbabwe's soldiers and police are paid in local currency. A police officer, who declined to be named, said: 'The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has a facility for us to collect money, but senior officers are looting all of it and asking us to go to get ours from the banks.'

Defence analyst Michael Quintana said the violence might signal the beginning of the end for the Mugabe regime. 'The army is down in strength from nearly 40,000 to about 26,000. There have been thousands of desertions. Barracks have stopped feeding all but senior officers, and soldiers depend on corruption and theft for incomes. If the time has come when they are ready to revolt, then the game will soon be up for Mugabe.'

Zimbabwe's official inflation annual rate is estimated at 231 million per cent, but independent economists cite the inflation rate in the billions of per cent. The 27 cent (US$) maximum account withdrawal buys a quarter of a loaf of bread and thousands of people spend their days in bank queues.