Friday preliminary reports indicate that the country is generally calm with calls for protests having been suppressed by a heavy police and army presence all round.

Watch video downloading below on situation in Harare this morning.

Zimbabweans had called for nationwide marches on Friday, ostensibly against top-level corruption, in defiance of a government ban.

This had raised the spectre of possible clashes and violence between protestors and security forces.

Police national spokesman assistant commissioner Paul Nyathi told national radio that there were no reports of protests anywhere as of early morning on Friday, and the country was calm and peaceful.

Police and other security forces have been heavily deployed in key areas to enforce the protest ban.

“So far the country is very calm and peaceful, no reports of demonstrations or violence,” Nyathi said.

He added: “We are monitoring the situation cĺosely.”

In banning the protests, the government had expressed fears the marches could endanger the lives of the public by exposing them to the raging Covid-19.

The government had also cited possible violence during the protests as another reason for banning the marches.

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