Mnangagwa’s remarks come at a time when there is a deadlock
between government and teachers over the payment of allowances to invigilate
ongoing Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) examinations.
The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz)
and the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) have refused to
invigilate the examinations.
Mnangagwa said there was a foreign hand influencing the
conduct of teacher unions and singled out the UK embassy.
“The British extra-territorial concern by a foreign
legislature on a sovereign African State, which is a full and equal member of
the United Nations, is grossly unwarranted in terms of tenets of international
law and practise,” he said.
“Because of this brazen, self-confessed violation of our
sovereignty and threat to our national security and stability by the British
government, my government will institute full and thorough investigations into
this grave matter.
“Zimbabwe is a sovereign State, has been since independence
from colonial rule in 1980, which is not even affiliated to the Commonwealth, a
body it voluntarily quit over differences related to her just land reform
programme.
“Equally, civic groups and teachers employed by the Zimbabwe
government to work here in Zimbabwe are not employees of the British
government, whether by contract or remuneration. Their activities, singly or in combination,
have nothing to do with the British government or any foreign government for
that matter.”
But teacher unions dismissed Mnangagwa’s threats as an
attempt to gag them from demanding better wages and improved conditions of
service.
The educators are demanding US dollar-denominated salaries
or the equivalent in local currency.
“We are aware of the African proverb that, ‘when a leopard
wants to eat its young ones, it first accuses them of smelling like a goat’,”
PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou said.
“Government is such a leopard in this scenario. Such
ludicrous hallucinations are not only baffling, but are madness of the worst
order.”
Artuz president Obert Masaraure added: “We are no one’s
agent, but we have a right to decide to change a corrupt and clueless regime.
Our families are starving because of underpayment and our education is collapsing.”
Newsday
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