When we thought about undertaking a bike ride down Africa, one of the
main reasons we decided to do a supported tour was to minimise the
risk posed by some of the more volatile countries. We thought of the
recently ended civil war in Sudan, the kidnappings in Kenya and the
revolution in Egypt. When we realised we would be passing through
Kenya during the election we were grateful to TDA for having ears on
the ground and taking responsibility for decisions such as bussing us
to a safe spot (this was just in case – as it turned out, this was
unnecessary as the election passed without major incident).
If we had to rank the countries we were least worried about passing
through, Zambia would have been very high on the list. However, the
other day we were reminded just how quickly small incidents can
escalate, and that we need to be constantly vigilant. As we approached
the town of Katete, the TDA crew called us to a halt and told us to
wait, as there were reports of a fire and tear gas. Thoughts of racing
were soon abandoned as the picture developed.
A couple of weeks ago, a 19-year-old girl was murdered in the village,
in a seemingly ritualistic way. This made the national press, as do
four or five similar murders each year. A few days before our circus
trundled through, the parents in Katete had a peaceful march, urging
the police to do more, as it was felt they were not responding with
sufficient speed or application. The morning we approached, the school
kids started a similar march. In Zambia, we hear that demonstrations
are always peaceful, relatively joyful affairs, often with singing and
dancing. However on this occasion a tyre was set on fire and the crowd
started getting excitable. This prompted the police to let off tear
gas and it apparently escalated quickly. As we waited by the side of
the road, and several police cars rushed past full of armed men &
women (many in plain clothes, wearing riot helmets; where they had
come from to this tiny village is still unknown), we also heard
reports of looting.
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| Riot car races past |
After a couple of hours waiting, we were informed the trouble had
passed, and were told to proceed as a mass convoy through the town without
stopping. We followed these instructions and passed through Katete,
which seemed remarkably tranquil other than the odd armed policeman
and one man being arrested. As we passed out the other side, we saw a
fire ahead on the road and were rushed onto the roadside by some
policemen as more police vans raced past, this time firing their guns
in the air. About five seconds after the second police car passed, we
were informed by the policeman that it was safe to pass, even though
we could still hear shots and see fire on the road ahead. We decided
to wait a little longer. Shortly, a police car came to escort us for a
few miles – as we followed them, we passed several men who were being
held at gunpoint (as the police turned to watch this odd sight of 75
white cyclists going past, the apprehended men gave them the slip and ran
into a field). The police escort trundled along, firing warning shots
into the air to ensure no one was near the roadside. Ironically, this
was probably the least safe we felt throughout the whole incident as,
perhaps fortunately, we are not used to gunfire, and they seemed to be
firing quite indiscriminately.
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| Arrested men... |
Soon the police pulled off and we were free to proceed. From our
perspective, the incident never really felt particularly risky, and is
apparently a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence in what is normally a very
peaceful, tranquil and friendly country. The sad outcome was that
ColaLife, the Zambian charity we are raising money for, is trialling
its Kit Yamoyo in Katete district, and we had planned to visit their
operations, meet some of the mothers who had benefited from the
medicine, and the people who help distribute it. As fate would have
it, their wholesaler was right next to the riot and tear gas and was
apparently looted, hopefully not too seriously. Simon, who started
ColaLife, had even driven all the way from Lusaka to help run us
through what they do. The upshot was we were unable to do our visit,
but hopefully we can see their work in their other test district,
which is west of Lusaka.
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| With the ColaLife crew |
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