Zimbabwe Opposition Parties Set to Protest for Electoral Reform

Harare has been rocked by weeks of near-daily protests over a plummeting economy, allegations of corruption and President Robert Mugabe’s decades-long rule.

A top police officer in troubled Zimbabwe has indicated that he will re-impose a ban on protests in central Harare less than a week after a High Court judge declared it unconstitutional, state ZBC radio reported on Monday.

State ZBC radio said: “The temporary prohibition is for a period not exceeding one month from the 16th of this month to the 15th of October 2016”.

But in his official Twitter account, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesperson, Obert Gutu, described the country’s police as an extension of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Opposition groups had planned a protest for Saturday.

“They have no respect for the law but we are not going to surrender our constitutional right”.

Under Zimbabwe’s security laws, protest organisers only need to notify the police of their plans, but law enforcement agents routinely refuse to sanction opposition demonstrations. This is the language they understand,”Ngarivhuma was quoted saying”.

A High Court judge last week ruled that a previous two-week police ban had not been issued correctly and violated the constitution.

“Zimbabwe Republic Police is now a fully – fledged department within Zanu PF”.

The ban is expected to last for a month and will likely be met by outcry from opposition supporters.