The recent statements by Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe regarding the planned protests on July 31 serve as a chilling reminder of a government that prefers coercion over conversation.
By declaring that security forces are "ready and waiting" to respond to what he deems "unlawful activities," the minister is effectively pre-empting the constitutional right of Zimbabweans to peaceful assembly. This aggressive posture reveals a leadership fundamentally afraid of its own people—a regime that views the exercise of civil liberties as a threat to be crushed rather than a democratic dialogue to be embraced.
Kazembe claims that "people are happy" and that grievances must be channeled through "constitutional and legal processes."
However, this ignores the grim reality that the very processes he defends are being used to systematically undermine the democratic will.
The M31 Movement’s call for a nationwide shutdown is a direct response to the Constitutional Amendment Act No. 6 of 2026, which controversially extendedthe presidential term and delays elections.
If this amendment truly enjoyed the support of the majority of Zimbabweans, there would be no reason for the state to tremble at the prospect of peaceful demonstrations.
A government confident in its mandate does not need to deploy "law enforcement agents" to maintain a forced and hollow "tranquillity".
The criminalization of dissent has already begun. The arrest of Bhekimpilo Mbedzi on July 15 for organising against the constitutional amendment is a disturbing example of the state’s strategy of profiling and intimidation.
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Such actions do not protect the "rule of law"; they weaponise it against those who dare to speak truth to power. By treating pro-democracy activists as criminals, the government is admitting its own moral and political bankruptcy.
True peace is not the absence of protest, but it is the presence of justice. Kazembe’s promise of "peace and tranquillity" come July 31 sounds less like a guarantee of safety and more like a threat of state-sponsored silence. We call on the government to end the profiling and arrests of activists immediately and without delay.
The streets rightfully belong to the people, and their right to protest is a fundamental pillar of democracy.
If the leadership truly believes its own rhetoric about being "governed by laws," it must start by respecting the supreme law of the land: the right of every Zimbabwean to be heard without fear of retribution.
Zimbabweans have not forgotten President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s declaration that the voice of the people is the voice of God, meaning that when people say enough is enough the targeted leaders must listen and not seek to silence the voices.
