Strikers shut down Zimbabwe in anti-Mugabe show of force

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai speaks to the press Tuesday in Harare to announce his party's support for the national strike

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- Zimbabwe ground to a halt on Wednesday as workers went on a one-day strike to try to force President Robert Mugabe to end violence against political opponents and the occupation of white-owned farms.

Shops and factories were closed and streets deserted in the three major cities -- Harare, Bulawayo and Masvingo -- as farmers, workers and the political opposition delivered the most broadly based challenge to Mugabe's 20-year rule.

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Isaac Matongo, acting president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), said only civil servants turn up for work, after being warned that striking would cost them their jobs.

"The indications we have are that the call for a work stoppage has been heeded. We estimate 80 to 90 percent of the people did not go to work," he told Reuters.

The government has said the strike could further damage the already battered economy and increase unemployment, estimated at 50 percent.

With foreign exchange reserves estimated at around one day's imports, the country on Tuesday devalued its currency by 24 percent to 50 Zimbabwe dollars to the U.S. dollar. It had been pegged at 38 to the U.S. dollar for more than a year.

"The move is part of a package of short-term stabilization measures we hope will put the economy on track," said Simba Makoni, a former businessman appointed finance minister after the ruling party narrowly won an election in June.

Exporters including tobacco farmers have been holding back crops and export earnings, expecting a devaluation.

Business welcomed the devaluation as a boost for exports and foreign exchange reserves. But South African analysts said it was too little to rescue an economy burdened with interest rates running at around 70 percent.

Political instability and violence apparently condoned by the government against opposition supporters and white farmers have shattered international confidence in Zimbabwe's economy.

The strike was called to put pressure on Mugabe to end political intimidation and order self-styled veterans of the 1970s liberation war in the former British-ruled Rhodesia to leave farms occupied during a violent campaign for parliamentary elections in June. At least 31 people including five farmers were killed.

In Harare's central business district, police patrolled with automatic rifles.

At the immigration and tax offices, staff read newspapers and drank coffee in the absence of usual long queues.

In the Willowdale industrial area on the outskirts of Harare, factories remained closed and streets were deserted.

The Kambuzuma, Warren Park and Kuwazana dormitory townships were quiet with buses and taxis doing little business.

In the Mazowe and Arcturus farming districts, workers loitered around their huts and farm equipment remained idle.

The mainly white Commercial Farmers' Union and the 10-month-old opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which delivered a strong challenge in June's elections, have backed the strike.

The ZCTU, apparently sensitive to potential damage to the economy, on Tuesday cut the duration of the strike to one day from three. But Nicholas Mudzengerere, acting secretary-general of the ZCTU, said that if the government did not respond, a longer stoppage would be called.

MDC opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai urged Zimbabweans to support the strike, saying Mugabe was pursuing a political vendetta against people who voted against his party in June.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF narrowly survived the first real challenge to its dominance in the June vote, winning 62 of the 120 parliamentary seats up for election. The MDC won 57 seats.

Mugabe has said he wants at least five million hectares (12 million acres) of the 12 million hectares (30 million acres) occupied by white farmers and will pay compensation only for improvements to the land unless Britain, the former colonial power, helps fund the redistribution exercise.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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