What crisis? Zimbabwe government on defensive after crackdown on dissent
- President accused of using coronavirus as a cover to thwart protests and hush his detractors
- Rights groups say close to 100 Zimbabwean activists and opposition figures have been abducted by suspected state agents
Zimbabwe’s government spokesman Nick Mangwana denied the country was in crisis despite a recent clampdown on dissent that sparked international outrage and shed light on long-standing social and economic woes.
Mangwana defended the arrests of around 20 activists and opposition figures for peacefully protesting against the government on July 31.
The demonstrations – de facto banned by anti-coronavirus measures – had been called to denounce alleged state corruption and ongoing economic hardship two years into President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s first term.
“The broken window theory indicates that if you let small crimes take place then bigger crimes will happen,” Mangwana said on Tuesday.
“You have to make sure that a broken window is repaired and that the person who broke that window is arrested,” he added, noting that the detainees were “high-profile” but not numerous.
Among the demonstrators snatched from the street were top Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga and Fadzayi Mahere, a lawyer and spokeswoman for the main opposition party Movement for Democratic Change Alliance.