At least 95 arrested in Zimbabwe after antigovernment protests

Zimbabwe police say they have arrested 95 people on charges of promoting public violence for taking part in demonstrations that called for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to leave office.

A large police deployment in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, and other cities on Monday, largely neutralised a call by war veterans for large protests against plans to extend Mnangagwa’s rule.

Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party said in January that it wanted to extend Mnangagwa’s term in office by two years until 2030.

Eighty-two-year-old Mnangagwa, who first came to power in 2017 after his long-term mentor Robert Mugabe was deposed in a military coup, is serving his final term.

Independence war veterans led by Blessed Geza previously supported Mnangagwa but have turned against him, accusing him of seeking to cling to power.

The men and women in custody appeared before a court on Tuesday. They were among 200 people who had gathered at Harare’s Freedom Square and are accused of throwing stones at police and temporarily barricading a main road, according to a copy of the police charges cited by the AFP news agency.

They had chanted slogans such as “Enough is enough” and “Mnangagwa must go,” the charges said.

These acts violated laws against breaching the peace and participating in a gathering with the intent to promote public violence, they added.

Security forces had been out in force on the streets of the capital on Monday, and the demonstrations were limited, but shops, schools and businesses were closed in what many said amounted to a stay-away protest.