The government has put all security agents on high alert, fearful of nationwide protests, as happened in January this year following a sharp fuel price hike.
On Tuesday, the government announced another sharp increase in the price of fuel in a move that has generated anger and consternation among the hard-pressed citizens.
The deputy minister of Information and Publicity, Energy Mutodi said that the heightened police presence has been done to stop the opposition from causing chaos. Said Mutodi:
The opposition wants to make the country ungovernable as a way to gain political mileage. In response to this, the police and other arms of the State security apparatus are on high alert to deal decisively with any incidences of violence and those who are hallucinating and believing that… Mnangagwa will not complete his five-year elected mandate are day-dreaming.
A University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer, Eldred Masunungure, told the Daily News that the government has pressed the panic button. He opined:
The government is panicking, whether it is a rumour or not but government is afraid, the rumours trigger panic on the part of government and they have been expressing that for a while now and the security has been put on high alert, these are signs of panic and trying to prepare for the worst whether pre-or post MDC, this resonates with what government including Mnangagwa himself has been saying.