Zimbabwe police deploy hundreds in Gweru, MDC challenges another protest ban

Riot police officers stand guard in the streets of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe August 20, 2019.

Zimbabwe Police deployed in force in the city of Gweru on Tuesday, witnesses said, as authorities sought to keep a lid on dissent after banning the third anti-government protest that the main opposition party has sought to organize inside five days.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) planned rolling mass demonstrations in different cities starting last Friday. It accuses President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government of mishandling the economy, which is facing its worst crisis in a decade, and repression.