ZCTU demands stop to politically sponsored violence

ZCTU demands stop to politically sponsored violence

The following is the ZCTU statement on the current wave of violence.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) is disturbed by the current wave of violence that has swept the country, soon after the announcement by President Robert Mugabe that elections will be held this year, with or without the new constitution.

Recently in the streets of Harare, gangs of suspected ZANU PF militias were unleashed ostensibly to demonstrate against the slow pace of indigenization of the economy and this resulted in some self-employed traders losing goods worth thousands of dollars. The ZCTU is tempted, however, to believe that this was a planned craze that ended in looting. There is nothing wrong with the ZANU PF youths expressing their views, but there is everything wrong when that expression of views means violence and harming innocent citizens. The country least needs this kind of tomfoolery as it is the ordinary person who feels the pinch.

Reports from rural areas are disturbing. The rural areas have been engulfed in a cloud of fear as war veterans and ZANU PF youths force people to sign the so-called anti-sanction petition. There are reports of bases manned by youth militias that have been set up to intimidate people. There has also been a disruption of Women's Day commemorations organized by the ZCTU. Innocent workers were detained while some policeman visited ZCTU headquarters demanding a list of the ZCTU Executive and any 'new information' that we might want them to know about the organization. Policemen insisted on attending some of our activities. This is a form of harassment

Reports of brutal attacks on members of the opposition, arrests of civic organisation leaders and their harassment are continuing. It is as if we are back to 2008. In our view these are the symptoms that the political alliance is not working out and the country needs to come out of this.

The ZCTU demands that the political leaders of the country put an immediate stop to this irrational violence. The co-Ministers of Home Affairs should also be visible and bring to book the perpetrators of this violence.