Anger at Zimbabwe fuel price hike

Soaring public transportation costs are forcing Zimbabweans to walk to work

HARARE (CNN) -- Riot police have fired tear gas at Zimbabweans protesting a fuel rate hike.

The protestors in western Harare barricaded a main road with oil drums and rocks and demanded that an increase in commuter bus tickets be reduced.

Fare prices increased last week from 25 Zimbabwe dollars ($0.44) to 40 Zimbabwe dollars ($0.71) to accommodate the higher fuel price, which increased 70 percent last week. Protesters demanded that the price be dropped to 30 Zimbabwe dollars ($0.53).

"The situation looked tense and I had to turn back my vehicle and drive back into town for fear it would be stoned," a witness to the road barricade told Reuters.

Police searched cars, taxi-vans and passengers waiting for buses in Mabvuku, witnesses said. Twenty kilometres (12 miles) east of the city centre, Mabvuku was the site of a three-day riot last October, after a 15 percent fuel and food price increase.

Mugabe is being pressed to abandon price rises

Some bus owners in southern Harare decided to keep their buses parked, fearing violence from protesters.

Police had set up roadblocks on major highways leading out of Harare. Many commuters were forced to walk to work on Friday because they say they cannot afford the higher fares.

Zimbabwe's main labour movement is threatening a two-day national strike if President Robert Mugabe does not rescind the price rise by June 29.

"The general council has reaffirmed the decision to carry out a national protest," Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) acting secretary-general Collen Gwiyo told a news conference.

According to authorities, the gas price increase is needed to fund importing fuel, but critics argue corruption at the state National Oil Company is to blame for the 70 percent increase.

It is feared that already struggling businesses will be forced to shut down due to the latest gas price increase, lending more to Zimbabwe's economic depression.