A Zimbabwe court on Monday dismissed a challenge by the main opposition party over a police ban on planned protests in the country’s second largest city, Bulawayo.

The Movement for Democratic Change had filed a challenge in court seeking to overturn the police decision to bar the protests, but the court ruled that the security authorities were within their rights to stop the protests.

The MDC has been calling its supporters to hold protests against the alleged corruption within the government and economic mismanagement.

A similar ban was imposed on protests in the capital Harare, forcing MDC to call off the demonstrations.

The latest developments in Zimbabwe come on the back of appeals by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to have the US and EU drop sanctions against the country.

The sanctions were imposed in 2002 when Robert Mugabe was president.

Current President Emmerson Mnangagwa blames the sanctions for the slow development that his country has recorded. He says a removal of the punitive measures would help the country attract foreign investment, which is crucial for its economic recovery.