Zimbabweans stay at home in protest against economic hardships

A woman walk along an empty street in the central business district of Harare, Zimbabwe, July 6, 2016. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabweans stayed at home on Wednesday and foreign banks and most businesses in the capital shut down, in one of the biggest protests against high unemployment, an acute cash shortage and corruption for nearly a decade.

Evan Mawarire, a pastor whose social media movement #ThisFlag organised the "stay-away", demanded that President Robert Mugabe fire corrupt cabinet ministers and scrap plans to introduce local bank notes or face a two-day shut-down next week.