The demonstration was to protests against Masvingo city council's decision to impose a roads levy and also for engaging debt collectors to recover outstanding money from residents.
However the Residents Trust claimed that police and state security agents blocked the demonstration which was supposed to start at the Masvingo civic centre.
When a news team from the Zimbabwe arrived at the Masvingo civic centre only a few members of the Residents Trust could be seen milling around.
Masvingo Residents Trust programmes co-ordination Propser Tiringindi said police and state security agents blocked the intended demonstration.
"The police and state security agents blocked our demonstration,"said Tiringindi. "They intimidated our members hence we could march into the streets.
However investigations by the Zimbabwean have revealed that the Trust had not been cleared by the police to hold the demonstration.
Some of residents Trust members spent most of the day at Masvingo central police station trying to negotiate with the police to hold the demonstration.
"We just could not hold the demonstration because very few people turned up hence we could not march into the streets,"said a member of the Trust who refused to named.
"Residents just shunned the intended demonstration because there was no police clearance and we had to spent hours at the police station trying to negotiate with the police ,"he said.
Although Masvingo police spokesman Assistant Inspector Charity Mazula said that they did not arrest anyone in connection with the intended demonstration the Residents Trust claimed that three of its members were arrested.
Tiringindi said that they had managed to hand over a petition to Masvingo mayor Hubert Fidzer in which they were opposing the imposition of the proposed levy and the unleashing of debt collectors on defaulting residents.
Post published in: News