One day after staging a round of demonstrations in Harare and other Zimbabwean cities, the National Constitutional Assembly vowed Wednesday to continue with protests saying it will mobilize other groups to push for a transitional or caretaker government.
The long-ruling ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe, and the Movement for Democratic Change of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister-designate, are deadlocked over the distribution of key cabinet posts in an elusive national unity government.
NCA National Director Earnest Mudzengi said that despite the arrests and police harassment of members who protested on Tuesday, the group is confident its action will bring in a transitional government to run the country, draft a new constitution and organize new elections.
Mudzengi told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the attention his the organization received from police showed the NCA is a force to reckon with.
Twenty-three NCA members arrested Tuesday were to appear in court this week week, the organization said. The NCA issued a statement late Wednesday saying members held by the police have been denied food, access to lawyers and treatment for injuries.
NCA members were being held in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare, it said.
More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...
