Fuel price protests in Zimbabwe turn deadly

Source: Reuters, 16/01/2019

Police fired tear gas in the capital Harare and second city
Bulawayo where protesters barricaded roads, burned tyres and
chanted songs against President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who put up
fuel prices in the hope of easing a currency shortage.
Security minister Owen Ncube said some people died at the
protests, but gave no further details. He blamed the unrest on the
main opposition party and political rights groups.
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“Regrettably, this has resulted in the loss of life and property,
including injury to police officers and members of the public.
Full investigations are underway,” Ncube said in a statement.
The Human Rights Forum, a collective of local groups, said it had
received reports that five people had sustained gunshot wounds.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said its Harare
headquarters was torched late on Monday but the fire had been put
out. It did not say who was behind the attack.
The authorities are keen to avoid a repeat of post-election
violence in August in which six people were killed after the army
intervened.
People run at a protest as barricades burn during rainfall in
Harare, Zimbabwe January 14, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo
Riot police patrolled downtown Harare as army helicopters circled
above. Businesses closed early and schools called parents to pick
their children, fearing violence.
The main labor union called for a three-day stay-at-home strike
starting Monday and central Harare was deserted by 4 p.m.
Commuters walked home from the city center because there was no
public transport.
“I am stranded in town now and I have no idea how I am going to go
home,” resident Leeroy Kabanga told Reuters.
Airline Fastjet canceled its remaining flights to and from
Zimbabwe on Monday due to the unrest.
“TIME FOR THINGS TO SETTLE”
Mnangagwa defended his fuel policy, saying prices in Zimbabwe were
the lowest in the region.
“Zimbabwe is going through both political and economic reforms and
these do not come easily. It will take time for things to settle
and results to be shown,” he told reporters in Moscow at the start
of a five-nation foreign trip that some analysts had expected him
to cancel.
“In normal circumstances the president should have canceled the
trip or booked a flight back home to deal with a very urgent
situation, but it could be that he has absolute confidence that
his deputy is in charge,” said Eldred Masunungure, a political
science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.
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Cash shortages have plunged the economy into disarray, threatening
widespread social unrest and undermining Mnangagwa’s efforts to
win back foreign investors who left under Robert Mugabe, whose 40-
year rule ended in a coup more than a year ago.
Everyday life is getting increasingly tough with the prices of
basic goods spiraling and medical supplies in short supply.
Motorists wait for hours to fill up at fuel stations where
soldiers are often deployed to break up fights over who is next in
line.
FEAR OF VIOLENCE
In Bulawayo, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of
protesters outside the High Court, according to video footage from
the Centre For Innovation & Technology, an independent news
service which also showed people looting a shop.
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Zimbabwe, which now uses the U.S. dollar after abandoning its
currency in 2009 after hyperinflation, plans to introduce a new
currency in the next 12 months.
But Zimbabweans are still traumatized by hyperinflation, which hit
500 billion percent in 2008 and left the local currency worthless,
wiping out savings and pensions. Inflation reached 31 percent in
November, the highest in a decade.
Businesses and civil servants are demanding to be paid in dollars.
Zimbabwe’s largest brewing company Delta Beverages, part-owned by
Anheuser-Busch Inbev, threatened to accept only U.S. dollars as
payment but later reversed its decision after government-led
negotiations.
The government on Monday postponed wage negotiations with civil
service unions, who are planning a nationwide strike from Jan. 22
to press for U.S. dollar pay.