By A Correspondent| The government has deployed soldiers in residential areas to maintain peace and order ahead of the 44th session of the SADC Heads of State and Government Summit, NewsDay can report. Police yesterday announced that law enforcement agents would be dispatched to suburbs “where there is a need” to assure the public of police visibility.

This heightened security comes at a time when the government has significantly increased its presence in urban areas ahead of the summit to be hosted by Harare on August 17.

There was a heavy presence of police and soldiers in Chitungwiza yesterday, shocking residents. Soldiers in motorized military gear and police armed with water cannons, batons, and guns moved around in convoys. Sources told NewsDay that the town was far from business as usual, with residents imposing a self-enforced curfew.

Most bars closed early yesterday, and vendors were forced to leave their stalls, according to sources. “There is limited loitering here,” said a resident at St Mary’s shopping center. “People are afraid of the soldiers. There is a lot of uncertainty, so people are staying indoors to be safe.”

National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi described the deployments as “normal” and stated they could be extended to other areas as needed. “Those are normal police deployments, just to assure police visibility. So there is nothing sinister or alarming about the presence of police officers,” he said. Nyathi, however, refused to comment on the duration of the police deployments.

Police have also launched an operation targeting pirate taxis and vendors to “restore sanity” in the capital. The government recently initiated a crackdown on activists suspected of plotting protests ahead of the SADC summit, with dozens of political and human rights activists currently incarcerated as the crackdown intensifies.