Zimbabwe’s opposition vows protests over economic crisis

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s main opposition Wednesday said it will roll out protests starting this week to try to force President Emmerson Mnangagwa to establish a transitional authority, even as the government warned against such an action and a rights organization reported an escalation in abuses.

Spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change party Daniel Molokele said on Wednesday that the party has mobilized its supporters to protest on the streets in the capital, Harare, on Friday. The protests will spread to other cities next week, he said.

He said the transitional government demanded by the opposition should address Zimbabwe’s deepening economic woes and ensure future credible elections following decades of disputed polls, the latest being last year’s July election that kept Mnangagwa in power.

The Associated Press