Call for strike in Zimbabwe gets muted response

A GENERAL strike called by union leaders over Zimbabwe’s economic crisis received a cool response yesterday, a day after the opposition ended its showdown with government over next year’s elections.

The two-day work strike organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) was aimed at putting pressure on President Robert Mugabe as his government grapples with the world’s highest rate of inflation, officially put at 6,592.8%.

But the protest turned into a damp squib with little sign of workers heeding calls to stay away, at a time unemployment stands at some 80%.