Zimbabwe Police Disperse Protesters Rejecting New Currency

Zimbabwe police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse scores of activists protesting the introduction of a new currency in the capital, Harare.

Protesters carried placards on Wednesday and chanted slogans denouncing the new currency, called bond notes, which they fear will become worthless because of economic mismanagement by President Robert Mugabe's government.

"No to fake money,'' read one poster.

People waiting in line at banks to get cash in downtown Harare scurried for cover from the tear gas and blasts of water.

The economically troubled southern African country introduced the bond notes on Monday, the first time Zimbabwe had its own currency since 2009, when hyperinflation reached 500 billion percent, according to the International Monetary Fund. At that time there were 100 trillion dollar notes in circulation.