Cape Town – Zimbabwe's international image has been dented after President Robert Mugabe was heckled by protesters in Zambia's capital Lusaka over the weekend, political analysts say, according to a report.
Mugabe on Saturday came face to face with Zambian protesters who expressed their dislike for him over his continued 35-years grip on power.
A video showing the protesters waving their hands in the air and chanting "Mugabe must go" went viral on YouTube.
Watch the video below.
Mugabe flew out to Zambia for the inauguration of the country's new president Edgar Lungu, well before the election results were announced.
Edgar Lungu. (File: AP)
The protest, according to the Daily News, was one of the rare cases of Mugabe being decampaigned on the continent at such a large and public scale.
News Day quoted Zimbabwean political analysts as saying it was an embarrassment for Mugabe to be told by the protesters that he was not welcome to witness free and fair elections.
Some analysts however, rubbished the protest as "inconsequential" as it had no specific demand or reasons why it was held.
On Monday, state owned newspaper, The Herald carried a story with a screaming headline suggesting that Mugabe had a hero's welcome in Lusaka.
The report said the protest went unnoticed by thousands of Zambians who gave Mugabe an "uproarious" welcome on Lungu's inauguration day.
Mugabe, who turns 91 in February, has led Zimbabwe since the country's attainment of independence in 1980.