Soldiers patrol Zimbabwe streets after
deadly protests over economy
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[January 15, 2019]
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Soldiers patrolled
Zimbabwe city streets on Tuesday and confrontations with demonstrators
threatened to boil over, as the government offered public workers more
money a day after protests over the country's collapsing economy turned
deadly.
Monday's unrest, during which several people died, followed sharp fuel
price hikes decreed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Impatient Zimbabweans accuse him of failing to live up to pre-election
promises to kick-start growth, having seen their purchasing power eroded
by rampant inflation.
As more protests threatened to break out, Labour Minister Sekai Nzenza
said public workers would be granted a monthly supplement of between 5
and 23 percent of their salaries from January to March while wage
negotiations with unions continued.
Mnangagwa, absent on an official visit in Moscow, has also promised a
clean break from the oppressive regime of long-term leader Robert
Mugabe, who he forced out in a de facto coup in November 2017.
The president said Zimbabwe might need Russia's help in modernizing its
army and was interested in receiving Russian loans, RIA news agency
reported.
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![](../images/011519pics/news_m25.jpg)
Soldiers patrol during protests on a road leading to Harare,
Zimbabwe, during protests, January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon
Bulawayo
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In Harare and Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo, banks, schools,
businesses and the sock market remained shut on Tuesday as many
residents stayed at home.
But witnesses said security forces were deploying to stave off
further demonstrations, and many people in the capital said they
could no longer access the Internet.
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(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by John Stonestreet)
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