Uneasy calm after arrests in Zimbabwe food riots

A Zimbabwean riot police officer drives away a demonstrator during street protests on Tuesday

By Jeremy Lovell

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- An uneasy calm returned to Zimbabwe's townships on Thursday after three days of violent protests against surging food prices, but political analysts said they expected the riots to erupt again.

Police said they had the situation under control and had arrested more than 70 people by Wednesday evening.

"As far as we know, and from the reports we are getting, the situation is quiet today," police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Bvudzijena said. "We are keeping the patrols in place until things are really quiet."

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Hundreds of police backed by army units patrolled the rubble-strewn streets of the townships surrounding Harare on Wednesday, randomly firing tear gas and beating passersby.

Residents reported widespread looting.

Four reporters were whipped and beaten by soldiers at a roadblock in Dzivaresekwa township west of the capital. They were treated in a hospital and later released.

"Now they are shooting in the air and tear gassing people. Very soon they will run out of tear gas and start using bullets. Then there will be a massacre," novelist and political commentator Chenjerai Hove told Reuters.

School children in the Harare suburb of Mufakose dance around a burning tire at a street barricade during demonstrations

Zimbabwe's independent Daily News said in an editorial on Thursday the riots were symptomatic of larger economic problems.

"The problem is bigger than boys and girls throwing stones or burning buses. It is fundamental to the future of this country," the newspaper said.

"For far too long, an oligarchy of geriatrics has been allowed, and has ensured through brutal force that it is allowed to run this country as it sees fit."

Hove said he expected riots to erupt sporadically in coming months as frustration with President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF government boiled over.

"The crucial months will be between now and the end of December," he said.

Prices have jumped by an average one-third in October alone, and official inflation is running at an annual rate of 62 percent. Fewer than one in two of the workforce have a job.

The farming industry, the backbone of the economy, is on its knees, government coffers are bare, fuel is scarce and the Zimbabwe dollar is sinking steadily, making imports increasingly expensive.

Some people are reported to be cutting back on meals for lack of money, and others are said to be cooking using plastic bags as fuel because they cannot afford firewood or paraffin.

A Zimbabwean riot policeman checks out a demonstrator who was overcome by tear gas in Harare on Tuesday

People fear riots will erupt early next year when the price of the national staple, maize, is predicted to jump sharply because government-sponsored farm invasions have disrupted plantings and will lead to costly imports.

"The people have had enough. They all hate (leader Robert) Mugabe," a waiter in a Harare restaurant said.

Zimbabwe is no stranger to food riots, but many had expected a period of calm after elections in June that saw ZANU-PF's majority sink to a handful of seats after two decades of unfettered power since independence from Britain in 1980.

The elections saw the emergence of the first coherent opposition in parliament in the shape of the union-based Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which came from nowhere to take 57 of the 120 seats contested.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was briefly detained by police last week after he called on Mugabe to quit, warning he would be forced out if he did not go of his own accord.

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

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