Zimbabwean authorities have reported the apprehension of 40 members affiliated with the primary opposition party on grounds of obstructing traffic and inciting disorder during a campaign event on Tuesday. This occurrence transpired just a week before the national elections are scheduled to take place.
In anticipation of the forthcoming elections, slated for August 23, tensions are mounting within this southern African nation. Analysts foresee a tense atmosphere due to an increased crackdown on dissent and apprehensions about potential vote manipulation.
During the campaign event held on Tuesday in a southwestern suburb of the capital city Harare, the opposition party Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) encountered interference from law enforcement, leading to the disruption of their supporters, as reported by party spokeswoman Fadzayi Mahere.
The police have officially confirmed that they took into custody 40 activists associated with the CCC. The authorities assert that the party initially communicated its intention to conduct a rally but subsequently deviated from the prearranged location.
The group “went on a car rally procession” in a nearby area, and stopped at a traffic light “openly blocking traffic”, police said, adding that CCC supporters “started chanting party slogans and singing”.
Social media users posted video of a packed junction of people wearing the yellow uniforms of the CCC, some of them were crammed within the bed of a small truck.
The opposition has long alleged that it was unfairly singled out for attention by the government in the run-up to the election, with its members being detained and numerous CCC activities being halted.
A report by Human Rights Watch this month said the upcoming ballot will be held under a “seriously flawed electoral process” that does not meet global standards for freedom and fairness.
It accused police of “partisan conduct” and of using “intimidation and violence against the opposition”.
In the presidential election next week, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, of the ZANU-PF, who has led the country since its independence in 1980, is running for re-election.
Nelson Chamisa, a preacher and CCC leader who is 45 years old, is his biggest rival.