Zimbabweans on Thursday poured onto the streets of Harare to protest the decline of the country’s economy.
The protesters marched through the capital of the Southern African nation under heavy security.
The anti-government demonstration is the first since a deadly crackdown on an election protest on August 1.
Six people died in the crackdown when security officers open fire on the protesters who supported the opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa.
The post-election violence cast doubt over Zimbabwe’s efforts to portray the elections as free and fair. It also brought into question how free Zimbabwe was after the exit of Robert Mugabe who ruled for over three decades.
Singing and hoisting placards, the protesters denounced President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ability to fix the challenges facing the Zimbabwean economy.
These days the truth speaks for itself. Sights of @nelsonchamisa with the people vachidira jecha in Harare today. Jecha kusvika zvaita better!@HeraldZimbabwe pic.twitter.com/obxucUzDBN
— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) November 29, 2018
Some of the placards bear inscriptions such as “Mnangagwa must go,” “You stole my vote, please give it back”.
AFP quoted a 25-year-old security guard, Donald Bango who said “We are here to demonstrate against the economic crisis and the election that was stolen.
There are no jobs. The current government is not doing anything to fix our problems”.
Looking defiant and marching through the rain, the protesters chanted the name of MDC leader Nelson Chamisa.
Mnangagwa, became President of Zimbabwe after Mugabe was forced to resign in November 2017. He promised to revive the ailing economy after winning the country’s the disputed election.
Recent economic issues erupted last month when the government announced a two-percent tax on all electronic transactions to increase revenue.
Source: Africafeeds.com
