Police in central Zimbabwe have arrested an official from the pro-democracy National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) as the group began muted protests in several cities, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Police in Masvingo city arrested Raymond Muzenda, the NCA’s chairperson for the region, after about 310 people marched through the central bus station to a shopping centre, Madoc Chivasa said.
Muzenda’s arrest follows the detention for several hours of an NCA official in Bulawayo late on Tuesday ahead of the planned protests, Chivasa said. An NCA official in Gweru was also questioned by police.
”The NCA will not be cowed into submission by these illegal arrests,” Chivasa said in a statement.
President Robert Mugabe’s government is edgy about any threats of protests following opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s promise of a season of discontent.
Under Zimbabwe’s tough security laws, all protests are supposed to take place only after police permission is sought, an obligation the NCA usually chooses not to heed.
The NCA, which regularly campaigns for a new Constitution for Zimbabwe, had said it would hold protests in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Masvingo and Gweru.
NCA chairperson Lovemore Madhuku said on Tuesday he expected up to 1 000 people to protest in each city.
”No amount of state terror and repression will stop the people of Zimbabwe from peacefully expressing their views on the need for democratic reforms that will help stir us from the present political, social and economic crisis,” Chivasa said. — Sapa-dpa