Zimbabwe Goes from Bad to Worse as Police Block Another Protest

For the second time in a week, police have been deployed in force to stop a peaceful street protest. The main opposition party, MDC, have stated that hopes are vanishing that this government might be more tolerant than the regime it replaced.

President Mnangagwa has been in office for a year now and promised to end political repression, but the situation has gone from bad to worse.

The economy is at its worst for a decade and security forces have used violence to stop three attempts by the main opposition to hole peaceful demonstrations.

“There is a determined effort by the regime to ensure that there is no more democratic space,” MDC national spokesman Daniel Molokele said.

The MDC said it would challenge the ban in court on Tuesday. The party failed to overturn two previous bans on marches in the capital Harare on Friday - where police rounded up MDC followers and dispersed them with batons and water cannon and tear gas - and in the second city Bulawayo on Monday.

In the days before the planned Harare demonstration, six political activists were abducted from their homes at night and beaten by armed men, rights groups say.