Apparently peeved by the team’s performance, Mugabe, who referred to them as rats, told the Police Chief to arrest all the team members and detain them, immediately they arrived the Harare International Airport on Tuesday, August 23, Reportsafrique gathered.
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The violence in the street is a sign of growing discontent against Robert Mugabe, the 92-year-old president who has been in power since 1980.
ZIMBABWEAN police used teargas, water cannon and batons on Wednesday to disperse opposition youths who demonstrated in the capital against alleged brutality by security agents. “We are a peaceful people”, the state-run Herald newspaper quoted Mugabe as saying at a send-off for students awarded scholarships to study in China.
Protests have proliferated in recent months as the country’s economy suffers the effects of alleged corruption and economic mismanagement.
“They are fighting because of Americans”, said Mugabe.
Defiant opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Zimbabwe People First interim president Joice Mujuru told journalists later that the State’s violent reaction to their demo would not deter them from staging another massive protest in Harare next week, as they exert more pressure on the government to institute needed electoral reforms.
Angry protesters engaged in running battles with the overzealous police officers on the streets, hurling stones at the cops and burning tyres. “We are going next Friday to do exactly the same as we have done today”, Mutasa said, according to Reuters. He said up to 150 000 people could attend.
A suspected protestor lies on the ground unconscious after a confrontation with Zimbabwean Riot Police during a demonstration in Harare, Friday, Aug., 26, 2016. When some of the protesters refused to comply, police fired tear gas and water cannons.
Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said the force was still assessing the day’s events. “We will let you know once we are done”, she said.
“We have been seeing a deliberate attempt by the police to intimidate, harass and silence the people of Zimbabwe”, MDC Youth Assembly secretary general Lovemore Chinoputsa said during the march.
Zimbabwe is living in a globalised world and Mugabe’s regime should be forced to respect the country’s worldwide human rights obligations or face isolation the same way Smith’s regime became a leper on the world stage.
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Friday’s protest could be the biggest and most significant yet, particularly because it could bring together Zimbabwe’s squabbling opposition amid talk of a coalition to fight Mugabe in elections scheduled for 2018.
