Mugabe warned: ‘Act on our demands or we strike again’

Zimbabwe’s government is facing an ultimatum from activists: act decisively against corruption‚ injustice and poverty or citizens will embark on a second‚ longer‚ national stay-away.

Pastor Evan Mawarire‚ the man behind the #ThisFlag movement that mobilised civil society to protest against President Robert Mugabe’s economic policies‚ presented government with a set of demands after a national stay-away saw shops‚ schools and businesses close their doors in parts of the country‚ including the capital‚ on Wednesday.

The protest action was fuelled by the failure of government to pay salaries to civil servants such as teachers and medical staff‚ economic hardships‚ government corruption and restrictions on the importation of certain goods‚ including food which‚ for some items‚ is often cheaper in South Africa.

The protest saw sporadic clashes with police‚ roads barricaded with burning tyres‚ rocks and rubble and dozens of people arrested as riot police patrolled cities and the suburbs and the military was out in force.

While some hailed the stay-away as a major victory‚ Zimbabwe’s Minister of Higher Education‚ Professor Jonathan Moyo‚ took to Twitter to declare it a failure: “So the success of the stay away‚ shutdown or whatever‚ was 20% at most & only in towns like Harare while it was 0% in most of the country!”

 

So the success of the stay away, shutdown or whatever, was 20% at most & only in towns like Harare while it was 0% in most of the country!

— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) July 6, 2016

<p =""> </p><p ="">Mawarire congratulated citizens on Wednesday evening‚ in a video uploaded to YouTube‚ for staying home and telling government “enough is enough”.</p><p ="">He delivered an ultimatum‚ on behalf of activists‚ urging government to take their three key demands seriously or face a second shutdown next week on Wednesday and Thursday.</p><p ="">“We are asking the government to deal decisively‚ straight away‚ with corrupt government officials. We ask you to take action now‚ they must be fired‚” he said.</p><p ="">The second demand was around the issue of injustice.</p><p ="">“We are asking the government to remove the roadblocks of the police that are everywhere; we know that this is a fund-raising mechanism. It is not fair‚ it is not right and we refuse to be treated like that.”</p><p ="">Police in Zimbabwe have come under fire for allegedly extorting cash from motorists.</p><p ="">“We are also asking that you pay civil servants money on time. It’s an injustice … that they are not paid. You must pay these people on time‚ we demand that‚” said Mawarire.</p><p ="">“The third thing is the issue of poverty. The cash crisis is because we believe that you have abused money. We want that money back. Our final demand on poverty is for you to lift this import ban‚ these licences. That must be cancelled straight away. These are our demands government and we ask that you meet them.”</p><p ="">He ended off by warning the government that should protestors’ pleas be ignored‚ “we are shutting down again‚ so that means the ball is in your court … we are ready to close down again within the next few days”.</p><p ="">Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesman Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba described the stay-away as “planned civil unrest” and told the Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation that numerous arrests were made on Wednesday.</p><p ="">Zanu-PF member of Parliament for Highfield West Psychology Maziwisa lambasted protestors who destroyed property.</p><p ="">“In Zim‚ we don’t oppose pple who protest…but we do if they do so through illegal‚ destructive and sadistic means‚” he tweeted early on Thursday.</p><p =""> </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" =""><p dir="ltr" lang="en">In Zim, we don't oppose pple who protest…but we do if they do so through illegal, destructive and sadistic means.</p> — Hon P Maziwisa (@Hon_Maziwisa) <a href="https://twitter.com/Hon_Maziwisa/status/750906729848799232">July 7, 2016</a></blockquote><script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" ="" /><p =""> </p><p ="">Save Marukutira responded: “@Hon–Maziwisa By WE you mean ZANU PF? Dude ZANU PF isnt Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe not ZANU PF!”</p><p ="">NewsDay newspaper reported on Thursday that people had largely heeded the call‚ coordinated by #ThisFlag and supported by Tajamuka/Sesijikile‚ Occupy Africa Unity Square and opposition parties‚ to stay home‚ bringing the country to a “virtual standstill”.</p><p ="">NewsDay journalists were arrested and forced to delete “offending images”. Read the full update on <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/2016/07/07/nation-heeds-stay-away-call/" target="_blank">NewsDay</a>.</p><p =""></p><p ="">The newspaper recorded a video‚ depicting deserted trading stalls‚ rocks blocking some roads and smouldering debris in the aftermath of the protest.</p><p =""> </p><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t2VC68RdVxM" width="460" ="">video</iframe><p =""> </p><p =""> </p><p ="">- TMG Digital</p>