Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa cut short a trip abroad amid tension in the southern African country over his security forces’ violent suppression of fuel protests.
Mr Mnangagwa said on Sunday that he would skip attending the Davos meetings in order to return home one week after the start of a crackdown on opposition and civic activists that his spokesperson said was “just a foretaste of things to come”.
According to NGOs, at least 12 have been killed in the worst state violence since the rule of Robert Mugabe, who was forced out in 2017 by an army coup that elevated Mr Mnangagwa, his former enforcer.
Shootings, beatings and detentions by police, soldiers and militia linked to Mr Mnangagwa’s ruling Zanu-PF targeted demonstrations against Zimbabwe’s mounting economic crisis including his government’s overnight doubling of petrol and diesel prices.
“In light of the economic situation, I will be returning home after a highly productive week of bilateral trade and investment meetings” in Russia, Belarus and other countries, Mr Mnangagwa said. “The first priority is to get Zimbabwe calm, stable and working again.”
The economy has been crippled by a desperate shortage of US dollars needed to pay for imports.
The government’s creation of dubious surrogates for the dollar, the main money used in Zimbabwe, has compounded the crisis and led to surging prices. Officially worth the same as real US dollars, the surrogates have collapsed in the black market.
Mr Mnangagwa’s pledge to make the country “open for business” after his predecessor’s misrule has been badly damaged by the currency chaos. His government is already internationally isolated after post-election violence by security forces last year.
Eyewitnesses and activists said that incidents of beatings and intimidation by soldiers continued in parts of the capital, Harare, and Zimbabwe’s second city Bulawayo on Sunday.
On Sunday night, Zimbabweans were also braced for the possible return of internet blackouts that have accompanied door-to-door raids by soldiers on private homes.
Activists say that internet shutdowns have been imposed in order to prevent greater awareness of abuses by security forces. The government denies wrongdoing.
The crackdown has been overseen by Constantino Chiwenga, the former army commander who directed the coup against Mr Mugabe. He became Mr Mnangagwa’s deputy and has been acting president in his absence.
There has been growing speculation of a power struggle between the two men over resources and signs of a split in the security forces, though they have denied tensions. Mr Chiwenga is widely believed to retain the loyalty of the presidential guard.
On Saturday, spokespeople for the police and army accused “criminals” of being behind the violence by stealing military uniforms.
The government has also blamed the main opposition MDC Alliance for unrest.
“Government will not stand by while such narrow interests play out so violently. The response so far is just a foretaste of things to come,” George Charamba, Mr Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, told state media at the weekend.
Analysts say that last week’s unusually widespread and confrontational protests reflect the frustration of the urban poor, which faces misery from the galloping inflation and currency crisis.
Mr Mnangagwa went to Russia seeking loans, but came away empty-handed.
South Africa’s government rebuffed an urgent request by Zimbabwe for a $1.2bn loan over Christmas, the South African Sunday Times reported.
