HARARE: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised on Tuesday that any members of the security force involved in misconduct during deadly protests last week would be punished, after cutting short an overseas trip.
“Chaos and insubordination will not be tolerated. Misconduct will be investigated,” he tweeted. “If required, heads will roll.”
“Violence or misconduct by our security forces is unacceptable and a betrayal of the new Zimbabwe,” he said.
Mnangagwa noted however that the protesters had also been violent, looting and attacking police stations.
The protests broke out after the government more than doubled fuel prices, an extra blow to Zimbabweans already struggling due to the country’s ailing economy.
The Zimbabwean Human Rights NGO Forum has said at least 12 people were killed in the unrest.
The violence has been an embarrassment for Mnangagwa who was headed to the World Economic Forum in Davos — looking to shore up investment — but cut his trip short.
Mnangagwa, who took over from former president Robert Mugabe in 2017, has promised to fix the economy brought to its knees by his predecessor.
He has been wooing investment with the refrain “Zimbabwe is open for business,” and has been keen to establish himself as more democratic and respectful of human rights than Mugabe.
However some Zimbabweans are now saying things are worse under Mnangagwa — who was Mugabe’s right hand man for decades before a falling out. After the protests, the Zimbabwe government began an Internet blackout, which a court on Monday ruled was illegal.
But some are worried that despite the president’s promise to investigate the unrest, no one will be held to account. “Talk is cheap … when there’s this festering impunity,” said Dewa Mavhinga, Southern Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
Despite an investigation into a security crackdown on post-election protests last August that saw at least six people killed, no one has yet been held to account, Mavhinga pointed out.
“In this recent violence there were security agents with AK47 rifles, in broad daylight, shooting civilians,” he added at a press briefing in Johannesburg.
Mavhinga asked how Mnangagwa could call the violence unacceptable when his government “is taking no action.” — dpa
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