Staff Reporter

THE streets of Mutare were literally still empty by midday today (Monday) following the nationwide 31st March protest calls by expelled Zanu-PF Central Committee member and war veteran cde Blessed Geza, whose calls went viral countrywide as Zimbabweans awaited to see the outcome on D-Day.

The police had called on Zimbabweans to go about their business as usual, guaranteeing sufficient security. It was however business as usual as most shops and key service providers were open for business, but the streets were not the usual busy sight on Mondays and this was clearly evident since morning and throughout the day.

Most people decided to play it safe and stay at home. It was mostly supermarkets, boutiques and fast food services that were open whilst a few vegetable vendors and airtime vendors were also at their usual designated points. Even at Meikles Park where a lot of people tend to flock as a meeting point had a few people in sight.

According to a snap survey by Easterntimeszim, no reports of public protests or skirmishes were reported in Mutare but Manicaland Police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka could not confirm anything as all countrywide reports would only be announced through the national police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi by end of day. There was not much police presence as feared by the members of the public on social media, but a few police officers in groups were stationed at focal points like Meikles Park in the central business district probably to assess the situation as the day went by.

The 31st March demonstration calls were made by the outspoken war veteran Geza as a course of action for an “uprising” against President Emmerson Mnangagwa. In February cde Geza accused President Mnangagwa of harbouring corruption amongst other accusations of mis-governance as the head of State, thus called for his ouster through impeachment or a solidarity march by the people to the State House.

However, Government has since charged Geza with treason, but is failing to capture him as his whereabouts are unknown since February, according to reports.

However, after today’s outcome, a Mutare based governance and political analyst who requested anonymity said the current state of affairs of passive resistance instigated by cde Geza and his splinter group of war veterans is naturally going to culminate into a fullswing uprising if not handled well by government. He however commended the non violent approach by the police.

“This state of affairs of staying away at home by people gives a semblance of the general complexity of the situation, which shows that people are sympathetic about what he (cde Geza) has been saying, in view of the current economic shocks they are facing from grand corruption he (cde Geza) exposed in his social media posts of Zvigananda surrounding the President.”

Adding, “The second permutation is the basic fear by the general populace to engage in confrontation against the status quo given past historical clashes which did not end well. But my analysis is that, if issues of mal-adminstration and mis-governance are not dealt with ‘decisively’ by Government after this first threat, my fear is that passive resistance will culminate into a full fledged uprising because people are now tired of the economic impasse, especially given the current Trump Effect of withdrawing key donor funding,” said the governance analyst.

The empty streets and some closed shops in Mutare’s CBD in pictures by mid-day. The people who came into town went about their business discretely, whilst most people evidently decided to stay at home: