Zimbabweans staged a mass government-orchestrated protest on Friday against sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union during the despotic rule of late leader Robert Mugabe. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been battling to re-engage with the West since Mugabe was ousted by the military in November 2017. His administration organised the demonstration in Zimbabwe's capital Harare, demanding the lifting of sanctions that have weighed down the country for more than two decades.

Thousands of people gathered for the event - which was declared a national holiday - waving posters and banners as they marched towards the national sports stadium. Some rode on top of buses, chanting slogans. "Sanctions are a crime against humanity," read one banner. "ZIDERA must go," said another, referring to sanctions imposed by the United States in 2001, at the height of land reforms that saw hundreds of white-owned farms violently seized.

Tensions escalated further when Mugabe kicked out European Union observers and cracked down on opposition party members ahead of a presidential vote in 2002. The sanctions were aimed at high-ranking officials and government institutions, including travel bans on Mugabe and his inner circle. US President Donald Trump extended the penalties in March to more than 100 individuals and entities, Mnangagwa included.

On Friday, the president and his wife Auxilia paraded through the streets of Harare, escorted by a brass band. "We know very well that the sanctions are neither smart nor targeted," he said in an address to the crowds at the stadium. "Their impact on our daily lives is immeasurable and the consequences are dire."

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019