Zimbabwe pastor charged with trying to overthrow government

While Mugabe is confident the liquidity crunch and cash shortages are “a temporary problem”, Zimbabwe’s economic growth has slowed to less than 1.5 percent, and government and private industry are struggling to stay afloat.

Riot police and water cannons and riot police surrounded the Harare Magistrates Court to prevent protests over the court appearance.

However, a similar protest last week left the country’s cities deserted after civil servants had gone unpaid.

“Yes, he has been arrested for inciting public violence and disturbing peace”, his lawyer Harrison Nkomo told Reuters, adding that police were searching Mawarire’s home in Harare.

The video, in which Mawarire was wearing a Zimbabwean flag, spawned the ThisFlag hashtag movement which has become a unifying symbol for the protests.

Meanwhile, proponents of the beat-pots-campaign led by MDC-T vice president Thokozane Khuphe are expected in court Friday to seek clearance for a public protest Saturday against lack of food in households.

We contacted the director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Irene Petros, but she was inside the court with Mawarire and couldn’t speak..

This was followed by a call on social media for a nationwide shutdown on Wednesday to protest the government’s “failed economic policies”. We want you to know that we are not hating the government for nothing. As a result, multiple foreign currencies, including the United States dollar, have become local tender since 2009.

The government has accused western embassies of backing the street protests and national work boycotts.

The government has warned that anyone sharing “subversive” material would be arrested. The strike by teachers over delayed salaries exacerbated the unrest in Zimbabwe.

He still gives fiery 90-minute speeches on his feet, and has vowed to stand again for election in 2018, but his ZANU-PF party is riven with factions jockeying for position.

He said the campaign was serious about wanting change.

“Zimbabwean voters may find themselves now united in an effort to usher in the post-Mugabe era, however, a successful political transition will require clear, unifying leadership”.

The video, which urges Zimbabweans to rally around the national flag and speak out against the country’s worsening economic crisis, went viral, spawning an online campaign that has coalesced into the biggest uprising against Mugabe’s rule in almost a decade. ZRP spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba could not be reached for comment last night.