Zimbabwe pastor Evan Mawarire calls for
more protests
14 July 2016 Africa
A Zimbabwean pastor who was detained after
organising a nationwide strike last week has
called on people to keep protesting.
Evan Mawarire told the BBC people should stay
at home as part of a campaign against
corruption, economic mismanagement and
unemployment.
He said the campaign was serious about wanting
change.
Mr Mawarire was freed on Wednesday when a
court in Harare dismissed a legal case against
him.
His lawyers successfully argued that the charge
of subversion had been added at the last minute,
denying him a fair trial.
The pastor has been at the heart of a social
media campaign denouncing the government's
management of the economy.
He said the #ThisFlag movement's goal was to
"get as many citizens as possible involved in
nation-building".
The crowds that gathered for the court
appearance of Pastor Evan Mawarire show the
power of social media in Zimbabwe. Those who
were able packed into the courtroom and
reacted in shock and then derision when
prosecutors added a new charge of subversion,
meaning the state believed the preacher was
attempting to overthrow President Robert
Mugabe.
But the ambush tactics did not work as the
defence team was able to argue that the last-
minute charge denied the pastor a fair trial. It
was still a brave decision by a magistrate given
the prevailing difficult political circumstances.
Many of those who showed up in solidarity were
draped in the national flag: It is no longer just a
symbol of national pride, but a statement that
the country should not be monopolised by a
political elite. Social media activists have taken
the fight for political reforms to new levels and
the authorities are having difficulty controlling
and monitoring them.
It is a pastor with no known political credentials
who has managed to galvanise the nation, calling
for an end to corruption. The stay away call may
be muted - with civil servants not wanting to
give the authorities an excuse not to pay them -
but the unprecedented scenes outside court
mark a change of tone in Zimbabwean activism.
The pastor's latest call for people to stay away
from work in protest at the economic crisis went
largely unheeded, with most businesses opening
as normal on Wednesday.
Mr Mawarire admitted the protest was not as
successful as last week's - when the country's
cities were deserted - but said the strike should
continue on Thursday.
He said: "Let's all shut down and send a
message to our government that enough is
enough, we need changes in very simple things,
in very simple areas.
"And our protest - non-violent, non-inciting, stay-
at-home - is the best because it is within the
confines of the law.
"Every Zimbabwean who does not participate is
robbing us of a great opportunity to add to the
momentum of where our country is going."
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