The demonstration calls also triggered the police to mount road blocks that are a reminder of the situation
prior to November 2017 during former president Robert Mugabe’s era. For several weeks travelers have been
harassed at check points. They have been subjected to searches and those without Identification documents
have been detained. The situation with the police and the upsurge in abductions, torture and assaults are a
reminder of how promises made in the aftermath of November 2017 and the run up to the July 30 elections
have all become a pipe dream.
Depressed economic conditions continue unabated. Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mthulisi
Ncube announced his Mid-Term Budget Review on the 1st of August which sadly did not bring much joy for
most Zimbabweans. He announced that the economy is forecasted to contract, reviewed upwards the fuel
import tax from 16-40% for diesel and 19-45% for petrol, increased toll gate fees, route authority and
operators’ license fees among other issues. These price reviews will add a further squeeze on Zimbabweans,
the majority of whom have not received salary increments in a long time, and this has particularly riled civil
servants and other workers in the private sector.
This was notable when Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) organised a
demonstration dubbed “Pay Day Funeral” at the Ministry of Finance Offices to protest the meagre salaries that
they earn. The group intended to hand over a petition to the Ministry to express their grievances but were
forcefully removed from the premises and charged with ‘Criminal Nuisance’.
191 people were abducted during the month of August while from its own monitors ZPP had picked 14
abductions, a sharp increase from the total of four such violations which were recorded during the months of
March to July 2019. Harare Metropolitan Province recorded the highest number of abductions and torture with
9 violations followed by Bulawayo with 4 and 1 in Midlands.
In Bulawayo tensions were high due to the planned MDC demonstrations which failed to take off after police
issued a prohibition order. The city also faced a potentially volatile situation when Chief Felix
Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in Khami Prison on charges of
destruction of property of one of his subjects. Police were heavily deployed in the city in anticipation of
protests, with helicopters continuously hovering over the city.
1
Recorded by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum -a network of human rights organisations to which ZPP is a member, whose mandate is
to keep an eye on the human rights situation