Harare’s streets full of police and soldiers
Zimbabwe’s capital remained on edge on Thursday, a day after the military shot dead three people during violent protests over election results, with most shops and banks in the centre of Harare shutting their doors as the streets teemed with police and soldiers.
Zimbabwe’s capital remained on edge Thursday, a day after six people died during violent protests over election results, with most shops and banks in the centre of Harare shutting their doors as the streets teemed with police and soldiers.
The violence tarnished what had been a largely peaceful campaign and ballot.
With the ruling party winning almost 70% of the legislative vote, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had cried foul, saying its own unofficial tallies from polling stations showed it had won. President Emmerson Mnangagwa moved to restore calm and called for an investigation into the violence.
The story of how Wednesday’s violence unfolded was related by four people familiar with the events, who spoke on condition of anonymity. They described how protests began peacefully, with the riot police who had been patrolling Harare’s city centre and securing access to the electoral commission’s office acting with restraint, joking and waving at members of the crowd.
The protesters mobbed the entrance to the commission’s office and the police, fearing the building would be overrun, panicked and called in the presidential guard, a small military unit that has a permanent base close to police headquarters, they said. Soldiers were sent to confront the demonstrators and several of them may have discharged their weapons into the air as a crowd-control measure, the people said. Several officers and ruling party officials suspect a single soldier may have been responsible for the fatal shootings, they said.
Video footage shown to Bloomberg showed troops running towards a fleeing crowd of protesters, and a soldier shooting at them before being made to stop by an official.
Government spokesman George Charamba told state television that Gen Phillip Valerio Sibanda, commander of the armed forces, told him no order had been given to open fire on the crowd.