ZANU PF has reportedly resorted to coercing civil servants,
particularly teachers, to contribute at least $1 each towards its $8 million
extraordinary congress slated for December.
NewsDay has gathered that in provinces such as Mashonaland
East and Mashonaland Central, teachers had been ordered to “donate” $1 each,
while headmasters are required to fork out $2 each towards the congress.
But Zanu PF warned people to be wary of individuals
soliciting money on its behalf, as some of them were bogus.
The Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ)
claimed that its members had been given up to next week to make the payments.
“The greedy and parasitic grouping called by the acronym
Zanu PF has once again descended on rural teachers, especially in Mudzi
district, demanding cash contributions from teachers,” the union said in a
statement yesterday.
“ARTUZ urges district school inspectors and school heads to
uphold professional ethics and resist manipulation by the ruling party.
“Teachers are saddled with a tall order of implementing a
shambolic and cumbersome new curriculum coupled with a monetary crisis that has
eroded their salaries by up to 75%.
“We would expect all rational citizens to commiserate with
the teachers, but rationale is now alien to Zanu PF.”
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general,
Raymond Majongwe confirmed receiving complaints from their members over the
issue, describing forced donations as “extortion and diabolic”.
“I have heard about this and there is nothing much we can
do save to say the world must know that Zanu PF is forcing teachers to pay for
their internal matters,” he said.
“Teachers have suffered every time from the President’s
birthday, youth interface rallies and now this. This must stop.”
MDC-T spokesperson, Obert Gutu said the opposition party
had also received similar complaints from other civil servants.
“We have received complaints from teachers and other civil
servants, who are bitterly complaining that Zanu PF officials are forcing them
to ‘donate’ money to fund their extraordinary congress in December,” he said.
“We strenuously condemn such fascist tendencies. We call upon Zimbabweans to resolutely stand their ground
and refuse to be intimidated by these Zanu PF hoodlums.
“Zimbabweans have got to learn to stand up to the excesses
of the Zanu PF dictatorship. None but ourselves shall set us free.”
People’s Democratic Party spokesperson Jacob Mafume weighed
in, saying: “It’s evil for a whole party that is failing to allow people to get
anything from the bank to then take the little money they get for a white
elephant congress, a congress which simply wants to repeat that it supports
Mugabe and his wife, a congress that does not worry about the economy, but
worries about the future of a 93-year-old President.”
In Mudzi district, teachers who spoke to NewsDay yesterday
said they were told to pay the money by next Monday.
“At the assembly point today (Wednesday), we were told to
pay up by Monday. This is an agreement we reached because most of us will be
able to access cash at the weekend,” one teacher said.
“A list will be compiled of those contributing.” Mudzi district schools inspector, Cree Chofamba declined to
comment on the issue. Newsday
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