HARARE – Police in Harare on Wednesday arrested Promise Mkwananzi, the leader of pressure group Tajamuka/Sesijikile for agitating for nationwide protests in January.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, representing Mkhwananzi, said the activist was still being processed by police on Thursday.
Over a thousand opposition supporters and union leaders were arrested in January after a three-day national shutdown over sharp fuel price increases. The protests turned deadly after anti-government protesters poured out onto the streets and were met by an army clampdown in which more than a dozen people died.
Mkhwananzi could face charges of plotting to overthrow the government, which were laid against trade unionists and opposition MPs after the protests.
The activist had so far evaded arrest after leaving for the United Kingdom shortly after the protests. He later moved to South Africa from where Tajamuka/Sesijikile called for a nationwide shutdown in July, which was not heeded.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party is planning street demonstrations next week to protest against the government’s handling of the economy, which is mired in its worst crisis in a decade and has plunged most citizens into poverty.
Zimbabwe is enduring shortages of foreign currency, fuel and bread as well as 18-hour power cuts. The power outages threaten mining and industrial output and have upended lives.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will hold marches in the capital on August 16 against corruption, unemployment and power and fuel shortages and a deteriorating economy, the party said in a notice to the police dated August 5.
“The national challenges are a result of a governance and legitimacy crisis arising primarily out of the disputed election of July 2018,” national organising secretary Amos Chibaya said in the notice.
The departure of long-time leader Robert Mugabe after a coup in 2017 was greeted with euphoria and hope, but this has gradually turned to despair as his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has failed to revive the economy or usher in meaningful political reforms.
Chibaya said demonstrators would present a petition to parliament after next week’s march.
The MDC does not recognise Mnangagwa’s presidency and maintains that he rigged last year’s vote, charges that the 76-year-old leader denies. Last week, MDC legislators boycotted the mid-term budget statement in parliament because Mnangagwa was present.
Everyday life is getting increasingly tough, with the prices of basic goods spiralling and medical supplies in short supply. Motorists wait for hours to fill up at fuel stations despite fuel prices having gone up more than 500 percent this year.
