State’s fake bravado exposed by Teachers’ stay away

By ARTUZ information

The Zimbabwean State has portrayed a fake imagery of bravado from the genesis of the biting economy crisis engulfing our country. The truth is that the State is panicking, the incumbent leadership is afraid of the citizens. The ongoing job action by the teachers is clear testimony.

Teachers have demanded salaries in United States dollars, a demand which is just and legitimate. The teachers are on the second phase of a series of job actions demanding adjustment of their salaries. In public the State continues to put a brave face but behind the scenes they are targeting our revolutionary leaders.

In Chinhoyi our Secretary for mobilisation and recruitment was visited by the dreaded state spies, fortunately he was not at home. They left a chilling message for him.

In Gutu they targeted our Secretary of Education and Research Secretary, Cde Lawrence Mapengo. Six police officers showed up at his workplace claiming that our leader is improperly associating with minors. The Headmaster was shocked because the procedure of handling such cases places the Headmaster as the first authority to handle such cases. How the police sniffed out the misconduct which is unknown to the school authorities baffles the mind. Our leader who was away from the school got the message through a phone call and will soon be filing defamation lawsuits against the police officers.

In Makonde our Mashonaland West provincial leader Cde Ndawana was inundated with calls from unknown numbers who were demanding to know the people funding our processes.

The State is still to come clean on the theft of vehicle accessories from ARTUZ President’s vehicle. On the night of 7 November, unidentified people pounced on the Union leader’s vehicle a Nissan Sunny, stripped the car of the computer box, coil pads, Air flow sensor, fuse box and Car battery. The gang also took away the President’s diary and Union file.

The bizarre incident is the first of its kind in living memories of the citizens of Hwedza. Traditionally thieves target Car batteries and car radios. This was a first of its kind, the job could only have been pulled by sophisticated criminals. To raise more suspicion the Police only attended to the crime scene at 1830hrs, the crime was reported at 0715 hrs.

The intention of the State was clear, they sought to render ARTUZ president immobile during our job action.

The Union’s National Executive Council salutes all the teachers who continue to stick their necks out in pursuit of labour justice. The second day of our job action is set to be a resounding success judging from the feedback from our members.

We advise the State to redirect the resources they are wasting on spying on innocent citizens. Such resources should be channeled towards salary adjustments for all Civil servants.

We demand our salaries in United States dollars now.