Police in Harare on Wednesday engaged in running battles with #Tajamuka protesters who had intended to march to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to deliver a petition to the central bank governor demanding an end to the cash shortages currently crippling the country.
Several people were injured as police battered the protesters and other passersby with truncheons, while the protesters responded by pelting law enforcement officials with stones.
Some of the protesters were holding flowers which they wanted to give to the police, a gesture, they said, showed they only intended to hold a peaceful demonstration and were also doing it on behalf of the police.
#Tajamuka activist, Stern Zvorwadza said there was a need to de-politicise and de-militarise the state and give citizens their voice.
“We only wanted to raise our concerns and we wanted to do this together peacefully, hence the flowers that we brought. We wanted to show the police that we are with them and they should know that we are here for peace,” he said.
Zvorwadza said there was a need to de-militarise and de-politicise the state so that citizens could express themselves freely without fear of harassment from law enforcement.
He said they intended to march to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and petition the governor of the central bank, John Mangudya, to urgently deal with the issue of cash shortages in the country.
The march, however, could not take place as the police used water cannons and truck-loads of anti-riot police who assaulted protesters and bystanders.
Police also fired teargas, forcing vendors at the Julius Nyerere Parkade to scurry for cover in nearby shops. It could not be ascertained whether the police had made any arrests as police spokesperson Charity Charamba was not immediately available for comment.
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