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Zimbabwe Protests Against Mnangagwa Falter as Cities Stay Quiet

Calls for demonstrations by a ZANU-PF faction fail to draw public support, with heavy police presence and accusations of treason against protest leader Blessed Geza.

Riot police officers patrol a deserted market area in Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 31, 2025, following calls for an anti-government protest. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Riot police officers gather on a deserted street in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 31, 2025, following calls for an anti-government protest. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Riot police officers gather on a deserted street in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 31, 2025, following calls for an anti-government protest. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Women walk across a deserted street in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe, Monday, March 31, 2025, following calls for an anti-government protest. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)

Overview

  • Protests organized by a faction of ZANU-PF veterans opposing President Emmerson Mnangagwa's potential term extension beyond 2028 saw little public participation on March 31, 2025.
  • Major cities, including Harare and Bulawayo, were largely deserted as businesses, schools, and public transport shut down amid a heavy police presence.
  • Police dispersed a small gathering of protesters in Harare, with some reports of violence, while the majority of the public stayed away, reportedly out of fear of government repression.
  • Blessed Geza, the expelled ZANU-PF member leading the protests, remains in hiding and faces accusations of treason for his calls to replace Mnangagwa with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
  • The lack of public engagement highlights perceptions of the conflict as an internal ZANU-PF power struggle rather than a broader democratic movement.