Zimbabwe remains tense after stay-away protests

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AA) - The situation remains tense in Zimbabwe after three days of tumultuous stay away protests that left at least eight people dead and others injured.

Internet services have been restored in the country but Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube remain inaccessible, irking ordinary people and civic organizations.

In capital Harare, many government workers returned to their jobs on Thursday.

“We were ordered one by one by our superiors to report for duty without failure and because most of us fear to lose our jobs, we had to force matters and be here for work,” a lower level government employee working in the Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare, told Anadolu Agency on the condition of anonymity fearing retribution.

Major banks and other stores remained closed, except some supermarkets where customers flocked to get items of daily use.

Gun-wielding soldiers guarded the streets.

Public transport remained off streets and cars queued at the few fuel stations open for business.

Most students and teachers remained absent from schools in the capital.

Riots broke out in Zimbabwe on Monday, barely two days after President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a more than 100 percent rise in gasoline and diesel prices in an effort to conserve supplies as the country grapples with severe fuel shortages.