{"id":53653,"date":"2025-03-31T21:12:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T21:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/zimbabweans-stage-nationwide-stayaway-in-protest-against-president-mnangagwa-s\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T21:12:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T21:12:41","slug":"zimbabweans-stage-nationwide-stayaway-in-protest-against-president-mnangagwa-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/zimbabweans-stage-nationwide-stayaway-in-protest-against-president-mnangagwa-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabweans stage nationwide stayaway in protest against President Mnangagwa\u2019s administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mass action, informally dubbed the Geza revolution after war veteran leader Blessed Geza, saw urban centres largely deserted as businesses, shops, schools, and public institutions remained closed.<\/p>\n

From Chirundu in the north to Beitbridge in the south, and across major cities such as Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Kwekwe, Masvingo, and Mutare, citizens heeded the call to protest by staying home.<\/p>\n

The demonstration, spearheaded by war veterans aligned with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga\u2019s faction within Zanu-PF, is widely seen as Mnangagwa\u2019s most significant political test since the January 2019 fuel protests, which were met with a violent crackdown that left at least 17 people dead.<\/p>\n

While the stayaway remained largely peaceful, there were reports of minor skirmishes in Harare, particularly at Robert Mugabe Square, where police dispersed small groups of people attempting to march.<\/p>\n

Security forces maintained a heavy presence in urban areas, but notably, the military, often regarded as Zimbabwe\u2019s ultimate power broker, was absent from the streets.<\/p>\n

The protests come amid intensifying factional battles within Zanu-PF, as rival camps loyal to Mnangagwa and Chiwenga clash over the party\u2019s leadership succession. Mnangagwa\u2019s allies have been pushing for a constitutional amendment to extend his rule beyond 2028, a move that has sparked outrage even within his own party.<\/p>\n

War veterans, once staunch allies of the ruling party, have now turned against Mnangagwa, calling for his resignation and throwing their weight behind Chiwenga\u2019s camp.<\/p>\n

Although their mobilisation efforts appeared weak, the overwhelming public participation in the stayaway signaled deep-seated discontent with Mnangagwa\u2019s rule.<\/p>\n

Some political analysts argue that, while war veterans may have their own political motives, the people are sending a clear message. They agree that Mnangagwa has failed,\u201d hence the convergence of frustration, possibly warning of bigger unrest ahead.<\/p>\n

Notably absent from today\u2019s protests was Zimbabwe\u2019s main opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa. Sources close to Chamisa suggest he is wary of aligning with a factional Zanu-PF power struggle, preferring instead to push for a broad-based national movement demanding democratic change.<\/p>\n

Chamisa\u2019s allies reportedly fear a repeat of November 2017, when public frustration was leveraged by the military to remove long-time leader Robert Mugabe, only to replace him with Mnangagwa, another Zanu-PF figure.<\/p>\n

The stayaway delivered a significant blow to Zimbabwe\u2019s already fragile economy, bringing commercial activity to a standstill. Many businesses shut their doors, while the informal sector, on which millions of Zimbabweans rely, was largely inactive.<\/p>\n

At the core of the economic crisis is the instability of the Zimbabwean dollar, which continues to lose value amid soaring inflation and declining public confidence. Under Mnangagwa\u2019s leadership, unemployment has surged, and an increasing number of Zimbabweans are leaving the country in search of better opportunities abroad.<\/p>\n

In response to the growing pressure, Mnangagwa has taken a series of preemptive security measures, including the recent dismissal of key military and security officials, among them Zimbabwe National Army Commander Lt-Gen Anselem Sanyatwe, Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga, and CIO Director-General Isaac Moyo.<\/p>\n

These shake-ups are widely viewed as efforts to consolidate power and neutralize internal threats. Despite the crackdown, war veterans have vowed to press on. \u201cWe fought for democracy, not for one man\u2019s rule,\u201d said a spokesperson for the group.<\/p>\n

As tensions simmer, the question remains: Is this the beginning of a broader movement against Mnangagwa, or merely a momentary flare-up? What is certain is that Zimbabwe\u2019s political landscape is becoming increasingly volatile, and Mnangagwa faces his biggest challenge ahead.<\/p>\n

\"While<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zimbabweans in some parts of the country staged a nationwide stayaway protest on March 31, in a bold demonstration against President Emmerson Mnangagwa\u2019s administration, which they accuse of corruption, economic mismanagement, and repression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":2000084599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000084599,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-500.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-500.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-500.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-500.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-500.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-500.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000084599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53653"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53653"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}