Fuelling fury:
Protesters barricaded roads and burnt tyres in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare on Monday, two days after President Emmerson Mnangagwa raised the price of fuel 150% in response to the worst economic crisis in a decade. Police fired tear gas to contain unrest in several Harare suburbs and in Bulawayo, with reports of five people having sustained gunshot wounds.
Angry protesters barricaded roads with burning tyres and rocks in Zimbabwe on Monday after the government more than doubled the price of fuel in a bid to improve supplies as the country battles its worst petrol shortages in a decade.
Protesters turned back drivers and blocked buses from carrying passengers in Zimbabwe’s two main cities of Harare and Bulawayo as the opposition-aligned Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) called for a three-day nationwide strike.
Soldiers were deployed at a shopping centre in Bulawayo’s Entumbane suburb where protesters looted shops.
Demonstrators in the second city had attacked minibuses heading to the city centre and used burning tyres and stones to block the main routes into town, while some schools turned away pupils fearing for their safety. Shops closed in downtown Harare as riot police patrolled streets and a military helicopter flew over the capital.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Saturday night announced a more than 100% rise in the price of petrol and diesel in a move he said would end fuel shortages.
“We have suffered enough,” said author Philani Nyoni, who was part of the protest in Bulawayo. “The government is now aware that we are not happy with their stupid policies like the fuel price increase,” he said, calling on the president, who is on a tour of Europe, to return home to “sort out things”.
“We want Mnangagwa to know our displeasure in his failure,” said another Bulawayo protester, Mthandazo Moyo. “Mugabe was evil but he listened,” he said, referring to Robert Mugabe, who was ousted in November 2017.
Residents of Epworth, a poor suburb east of Harare, woke up on Monday to find rocks blocking roads and the protesters setting ablaze a tent at a police post. “It’s tense since early morning,” Nhamo Tembo, an Epworth resident, said.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been in a slump for more than a decade, with cash shortages, high unemployment and recently a scarcity of staples such as bread and cooking oil.
In a televised address late on Saturday, Mnangagwa said prices of petrol and diesel would more than double to tackle a shortfall caused by increased fuel usage and “rampant” illegal trading. Petrol prices rose from $1.24/l to $3.31, with diesel up from $1.36/l to $3.11 starting on Sunday one of the highest pump prices in the world.
The ZCTU has called for a three-day stay-away strike as it said the government had shown a clear lack of empathy for the already overburdened poor.
The government has accused the strike organisers of pushing a political “regime change” agenda and of “subversive political activities”.
“It has become obvious that there is a deliberate plan to undermine and challenge the prevailing constitutional order,” said government spokesperson Nick Mangwana.
Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change, said: “We have a national crisis which is descending into a humanitarian crisis.”
Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe following military intervention, before winning the disputed election in July.
He has announced a package of measures to help state workers after strikes by doctors and teachers over poor pay. Doctors in state hospitals went on a 40day strike in early December, demanding salaries be paid in US dollars and work conditions be improved. Teachers unions called a strike last week for better pay but their calls went largely unheeded.
Mnangagwa announced “a package of measures to cushion government workers”. He also warned the government would come down hard on “elements bent on taking advantage of the current fuel shortages to cause and sponsor unrest and instability in the country”.
Mnangagwa has pledged to revive the moribund economy and end the country’s international isolation.
ROADS WERE BLOCKED AND TYRES BURNT IN HARARE AND BULAWAYO AFTER THE PRICE OF PETROL AND DIESEL ROSE OVER 100%