Trouble could be brewing in Zimbabwe as the regime which is now fearing Sudan style civil unrest bans outlets for citizens to vent their displeasure against the way the country is being run.
Following banning of protests in Harare and Bulawayo, the Emmerson Mnangagwa led government has just banned protest in Gweru and Masvingo, blocking all lawful avenues for citizens to express themselves.
Renowned political commentator Elder Mabhunu says the prevailing circumstances in which people are denied space to express their feelings, could backfire on the regime, when bottling pressure erupts.
“This will not end well for Mnangagwa, he should be guided by the old African proverb; ‘Even a lizard, can bite if cornered.’ When aggrieved, citizens should always have a way to express themselves and seek redress,” he says.
Mabhunu maintains that Zimbabweans are agitated by the economic and political environment in the country, and the continued diminishing of civic room to make their voices heard, would spell a brewing trouble for the regime.
Apparently, the police in banning the planned peaceful protests have admitted that citizens are agitated, and the state fears trouble.
“The ordinary citizens in the country are experiencing hardships so any call for the demonstrations might be taken advantage of by the already agitated citizens and violence may erupt,” read part of the statement by the police banning the protests.
Meanwhile, in a related matter, another political analyst Dr Pedzisai Ruhanya has warned Mnangagwa to be wary of being misled by his friends in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), while they are running their countries better.
“SADC is misleading Mnangagwa’s regime. They give him bogus support while most of them respect the rule of law in their countries and grow their economies. Now their major partner the EU has called this violent regime to order. This increases international rebuttal, rejection!” he chided via his microblog twitter handle.
Meanwhile, Harare could face more isolation from the international community following the continued diminishing democratic space. This comes after there has been international outcry over the continued human rights abuses. Prior and after the planned protests, which have since been banned, a number of human rights activists and leaders of the opposition parties were abducted, tortured and persecuted by state security agents.
Some of the international players to express their displeasure over the continued human rights abuses by the state, include the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, and the United States of America, whose Ambassador, Brian Nichols recently visited some of the tortured activists at a local hospital.
