Despite tear gas and water cannon that forced opposition leaders and demonstrators to flee, activists have warned that this was just the first in a series of protests.
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Opposition leaders termed Friday’s march in Harare a “mega-demonstration”. The government has been repeatedly forced to delay salary payments to teachers, doctors, soldiers and administrators. Civil servants, physicians and teachers haven’t been paid, and the country is facing a drought that threatens to plunge more than four million people into hunger.
“Demonstrating is the only solution left to force the dictator out of office”, said Tapfuma Make, an unemployed 24-year-old from Chitungwiza town, south of Harare.
The story that appeared on a Nigeria news website said Mugabe was not happy that the 31-member team had failed to win any medals and had instructed police commissioner general Augustine Chihuri to arrest the athletes on their arrival home.
The most recent rally called for electoral reforms before 2018 when Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, will seek reelection. Zanu-PF retained power after elections in 2013, which were tainted by allegations of vote-rigging.
Much of the recent activism has bypassed traditional opposition politicians and parties. Some have taken positions at the headquarters of the main opposition MDC-T party.
A Zimbabwean judge has ordered police not to interfere with an anti-government demonstration in the capital Friday.
Friday’s march was to demand free and fair elections.
Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo on Thursday called opposition leaders “foreign agents” using protests to cause chaos in order to justify global intervention in Zimbabwe’s affairs.
Opposition protesters also clashed with supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party who had refused to clear their street stalls.
Opposition parties say Zimbabwe’s electoral commission is biased in favour of Zanu-PF and run by security agencies loyal to Mugabe, charges the commission denies.
The protesters want the next vote in 2018 to be supervised by global observers, including the United Nations. They are also calling on Mugabe to dismiss corrupt ministers, scrap plans to introduce local bank notes and end cash shortages.
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Water cannons, frequently used to break up anti-government protests in the past two months, have been set up by police at strategic points in downtown Harare and truckloads of anti-riot police have been deployed.
