In pics: Discord simmers in Zimbabwe as anti-government protest grips nation

Zimbabwe witnessed nationwide demonstrations erupting on January 14 after President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced that fuel prices were being doubled in a country suffering regular shortages of fuel, food, and medicine.

Zimbabweans hit the streets on January 14 after President Emmerson Mnangagwa raised fuel prices by 150 per cent. 

The lawyers and activists claimed that the security forces used violence and carried out mass arrests to quell the unrest.

 

Zimbabwe's public workers Saturday rejected a second offer to raise their salaries and demanded to be paid in dollars.

The government had offered to pay 305,000 civil servants, including the security forces, $300 million for the period between April and December, a monthly average rise of $109 each.

Hundreds of protestors arrested during the protest were detained on January 18 on public order charges, as the United Nations urged an end to a brutal security crackdown and an internet blackout.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for restraint by the Zimbabwe authorities.

In Geneva, the UN human rights office called on the government to halt the crackdown and denounced allegations of 'generalised intimidation and harassment' of protestors.

The internet was blacked out for much of the day until authorities began gradually lifting a ban that had disabled some electronic communications in the country since January 15.

As life returned to a semblance of normality in Harare, civilians ventured outside to stock up on food and other supplies while police continued to patrol the streets.

Among the around 400 people charged by magistrates on January 18 was pastor Evan Mawarire, a rights activist who rose to prominence as a critic of Robert Mugabe's rule and led a national protest in 2016.

He will stand trial on more serious charges of subverting the government after encouraging Zimbabweans via social media to heed a strike call from unions. 

Authorities have yet to respond to the allegations of a crackdown, but many Zimbabweans believe Mnangagwa - a former Mugabe ally - is falling back on his predecessor's tactics by using intimidation to crush dissent.

The president has also failed to make good on pre-election pledges to kick-start the ailing economy - beset by high inflation and a currency shortage, and the trigger for this week's protests.