Cape Town — More than 200 singing and drum-beating demonstrators took to the streets of London in the hopes that their protest will push the United Nations (UN) to supervise the next general elections in Zimbabwe.

Organised by Zimbabwe Vigil, the protesters handed their petition to a representative of UK Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street.

The petition states: "We call on the Security Council to ensure that the next elections in Zimbabwe are free and fair. We look to the United Nations to supervise the electoral process and the handover of power to a new government and believe peace-keeping troops will need to be in place before, during and after the polling". The petition has been signed by more than 12,000 people across the wold over the past two years.

The London-based organisation, with the MDC Diaspora, also called on South Africa to pressure Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe into honouring the 2008 Global Political Agreement.

The demonstrators, led by Rose Benton of Zimbabwe Vigil, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) chairperson Ephraim Tapa and MDC-United Kingdom chairperson Tonderayi Samanyanga, carried messages like 'Mugabe Must Go Now' and 'No More Violent Elections'.

The petition forms part of the Free Zimbabwe Global Protest, an international movement. Recent demonstrations in the U.S., South Africa and the UK also coincided with the country's Independence Day celebrations on April 18.

Zimbabwe Vigil has had supporters outside the Zimbabwean embassy in London every Saturday over the past decade in protest against human rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by the Zanu-PF and its supporters.