Another civil society activist told us “I skipped the country because one night after helping some victims, I saw police trucks parked outside my house”. Yet another said “people are generally more afraid now, especially because of the level of impunity. Personally, I am more afraid than ever.” ““I am afraid to return to Zimbabwe because the regime has become more brutal. We have not witnessed this level of impunity for years.”23 MDC, Member of Parliament Charlton Hwende Some of the activists and opposition party members have fled their homes while others live in constant fear of violence, arrests and forced entry into their homes on suspicion of either belonging to the opposition MDC or being part of the protest.24 The fear is compounded by the increasing influence of the military. Following the 2017 military assisted transition led by current Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, the High Court in Harare declared that the military intervention was permissible in terms of Section 212 of the Constitution.25 Growing signs of the army’s influence is also evident with the muted or compliant response by President Mnangagwa and his advisors to the army’s repressive response to public protests. The growing influence of the military can be summed up thus: They intervened and put an end to Mugabe’s rule, in clear terms, thwarted any political ambitions his wife Grace may have had and then enabled the ushering in of President Mnangagwa.26 In the wake of the crackdown, President Mnangagwa remained silent until almost a week later when he released a tweet on 20 January to announce that he was cutting his trip short to stabilize the situation at home.27 A few days later President Mnangagwa said he was calling for national dialogue via another tweet.28 It is not clear if his call has been heeded. What is clear is the inconsistency in messages from the government, with senior government officials contradicting themselves on the authenticity of the tweets from President Mnangagwa’s official account.29 In an interview from Namibia, 29 January 2019 Various interviews conducted with over 20 individuals between 15 – 24 January 2019 25 Judgement delivered by Judge George Chiweshe, CCZ 42/18 25 November 2017 26 See address by General Constantino Chiwenga panned on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation on 12 November 2017 in which he said “We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in, “in apparent reference to Mugabe’s firing of Mnangagwa as Vice President on 6 November, 2017 27 “In light of the economic situation, I will be returning home after a highly productive week of bilateral trade and investment meetings. We will be ably represented in Davos by Minister of Finance, Mthuli Ncube. The first priority is to get Zimbabwe calm, stable and working again” – Emmerson Mnangagwa, via Twitter 20 January, 2019 28 “I invite leaders of all political parties as well as religious and civil leaders to set aside our differences and come together. What unites us is stronger than what could ever divide us. Let’s begin a national dialogue. Let’s put the economy first. Let’s put the people first 4/4” – Emmerson Mnangagwa via Twitter 22 January, 2019 29 On 24 January, Presidential Spokesperson George Charamba told reporters that they should not believe everything that came from the President’s twitter account, but the Ministry of Information and broadcasting reacted to Charamba’s claim suggesting it was false: “There maybe be many fake accounts in HE President Mnangagwa’s name but @edmnangagwa is the legitimate voice of the President. Nothing goes on there but that which represents his views and positions on issues and that which he has explicitly cleared,” said a statement from the Ministry of the same day 23 24 ‘OPEN FOR BUSINESS, CLOSED FOR DISSENT’ CRACKDOWN IN ZIMBABWE DURING THE NATIONAL STAY-AWAY, 14-16 JANUARY 2019 Amnesty International 7