“If we needed people to just go to Brazil to sing our national anthem and hoist our flag, we would have sent some of the attractive girls and handsome guys from University of Zimbabwe to represent us”.
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HARARE, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Zimbabwean police on Friday fired tear gas at opposition leaders and hundreds of demonstrators as a protest against President Robert Mugabe descended into one of the worst outbreaks of violence in two decades. The more they are suppressed, the greater the rebound.
Earlier, a senior member of Mujuru’s ZimPF party Didymus Mutasa, who is also former state security minister in Mugabe’s government, told reporters that apart from electoral reforms, the opposition parties also wanted the electoral body to announce a clear road map for the next elections.
The churches said they would also protest against the abuse of State security apparatus, abductions, vote rigging and illegal arrest of citizens, ANA-CAJ reported.
The move by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) was unconstitutional as later affirmed by the High Court and going forward, the force must not be allowed to act in such a partisan manner. People’s anger and desperation are real …
Charles Laurie, an analyst with Verisk Maplecroft in London, agreed that the government was on the verge of losing control.
Another anti-government demonstration will be held next Friday, said the coalition of at least 18 opposition parties and civic organizations that organized Friday’s protest.
On the other hand, the Canadian Embassy said: “The Embassy of Canada to Zimbabwe is increasingly concerned with reports of violence and human rights violations in response to public protest”.
Many protesters, including journalist Lucy Yasini, were reportedly injured in clashes with the police. But political analysts said their statements vindicated Government position that some of these countries sponsored the current protests.
Police tried to “discourage” Friday’s march, saying the anticipated crowd of about 150,000 would disrupt business and traffic.
Home affairs minister Ignatius Chombo on Thursday accused Western countries of plotting the protests.
Zimbabwe has seen an increase in violent protests over the past weeks, with demonstrators calling on veteran President Robert Mugabe to step down. Before they were dispersed, a small group of opposition supporters were singing liberation war songs, including “Hondo (war) Mugabe must go”.
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Mugabe, who regularly appears in public, has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980.
