Mnangagwa's govt says it will crush dissent

GOVERNMENT issued a chilling warning yesterday, saying it will not allow swelling public anger over the dying economy to grow into anti-government protests, in what betrays the uneasiness in the corridors of power.

Home Affairs minister Cain Mathema claimed yesterday that authorities have caught wind of a ploy by Zimbabwe's civil society, opposition parties and foreign countries to organise a crippling demonstration against the deteriorating economic conditions.

"It is disturbing to note that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and other security services in the country have gathered information to the effect that a group of foreign nationals want to facilitate a three-day civic organisation workshop in Bulawayo in May," he told reporters at a press briefing in Harare.

"The main agenda of the workshop is to mobilise and capacitate civic organisations and individuals to stage purported effective demonstrations and disturbances to overthrow the Zanu-PF government". Mathema said his ministry will ensure that law and order prevail in the country.

The ministry has since directed ZRP commissioner-general Godwin Matanga to put adequate security measures in place to deal with anyone who engages in any form of violence and disturbances.

"The police will thwart any civil disobedience or violent machinations by individuals, political parties and civic organisations under the guise of freedom of assembly and other hidden activities. Let me emphasise that no NGO can teach us about freedom of assembly and democracy," he said.

Desperate economic conditions under President Emmerson Mnangagwa's two-year rule have already led to deadly January protests triggered by a 150 percent fuel price hike that was met with a heavy crackdown by security forces.

Zimbabweans had hoped Mnangagwa would make good on pre-election pledges to revive the economy and break with the Mugabe era.  But since the November 2017 coup that ousted Mugabe, Zimbabwe has fallen back into familiar ways.

Foreign currency shortages are battering the economy; rocketing inflation is destroying the value of citizens' savings and the government is reacting forcefully to crush dissent. Yesterday, Mathema said government is also aware of plans to intensify violent demonstrations in the country after the forthcoming MDC congress to be held next month.

The tough-talking minister said security agents will not hesitate to use maximum force to restrain rioters and restore law and order in the country. He repeated the old accusation that the MDC was behind the economic challenges being experienced in the country because it lobbied western and European countries to introduce the restrictive measures in early 2000s.

"The law will not tolerate any nonsense especially from those who imposed sanctions on this country. If anybody uses illegal arms, we will use any force we can against those forces.

"We will use supreme force to make sure that those arms or weapons are not used against the people of Zimbabwe. We do not want any demonstrations at all. All we are after is law and order.

Anyone who wants to demonstrate has to follow the law. We cannot allow demonstrations to just go about and people run willy-nilly like drunken cows in order to remove the government from power," he said.