Zimbabwe National Army members have embarked on causing alarm and despondency to members of the public mainly through unnecessary harassment and beatings.

Zimbabwe Soldiers Seen Patrolling Around The City.

In many areas, the soldiers have imposed curfews and beat up residents, especially in the morning and after hours.

A resident in the high-density suburb of Glen View says more than 20 soldiers and police officers roam around the shops- causing trouble.

“On Tuesday when I was at work, I phoned home to find out how the situation was. I heard the riot police has clashed with the police and thus I decided to go home early.”

“Public transport was hard to come by, but managed to get a kombi an hour later.”

“When I was disembarking from the kombi at Glen View 3 shops, soldiers asked all of us, where we were coming from. We all said we were coming from work, and they ordered us to run home,” she said.

“At a distance, we could see other people who were made to sit down, whilst some were being beaten up,” she said.

In Warren Park, on Wednesday morning informal traders at Mereki were made to roll in the mud, before being let go.

Petros Mukonda said as they went about their business in a group at the shops, a group of soldiers pointed guns at them and asked them what they were doing.

“Before we could answer, they then ordered us to sit and roll in the mud several times.”

“Some of our colleagues were ordered to lie down and were beaten using baton sticks and booted feet, for no apparent reason,” he said.

Mukonda said after assaulting the public, the ZNA members then went to the bus stop where they ordered people waiting for kombis to form a queue, in which one paid the fare before boarding the kombi.

Residents who spoke to The Zimbabwe Gazette expressed disappointment towards the behaviour, but vowed never to retaliate.

A survey in the evening revealed shops and night clubs now close early, fearing trouble from the uniformed forces.

The popular youth militia (in their brand new riot police uniforms and baton sticks) has also been deployed in the capital, and usually ‘patrol’ in large numbers in First and Fourth Streets. In almost each and every road and street corner in Harare appears a group of riot policemen.

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