The Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology which exhibited
under the Zanu PF stand at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) was
first mooted after the country gained Independence from British colonial rule
in 1980.
A push to operationalise the college gathered momentum in
2016 to allegedly instil a sense of patriotism and understanding of Zanu PF’s
ideology by civil servants and others, who did not participate in the
liberation struggle.
In 2016, a resolution was passed by Zanu PF that no
candidate would represent the party in national elections without passing
through the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology.
This publication gathered that top civil servants,
including directors in ministries have undergone the indoctrination lessons
modelled under the controversial national youth service, the difference being
that there is no “military-type” training.
“It’s on course (training of civil servants at the school
of ideology).
“Currently, directors in ministries have gone through that
already,” a Cabinet minister confirmed yesterday.
Chitepo was chairperson of the war council of Zanu during
the liberation war.
He was assassinated on March 18, 1975 in Lusaka in a car
bomb and the mystery surrounding his death remains unresolved.
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa was not available
for comment while her deputy Kindness Paradza referred The Standard to Zanu PF
for official comment.
Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu referred The
Standard to the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology principal Munyaradzi
Machacha, who confirmed the indoctrination lessons.
“It’s basic orientation for about five days although we
have other customised courses for different groups and institutions to address
their specific needs,” Machacha said.
“We have done the basic orientation courses in ministries,
parastatals and in the Zanu PF structures.”
Machacha went on to say opposition Citizens Coalition for
Change (CCC) members, including their leader Nelson Chamisa must undergo the
indoctrination lessons to inculcate a
culture of patriotism in them.
“The school is really a national heritage school where we
treat every citizen equally regardless of political affiliation,” he said.
“If Chamisa were to come, we would put him through the same
course to teach him patriotism and national conscience and to defend Zimbabwe’s
national interest, which is lacking in our opposition who hero-worship our
colonial masters and want the same to come and superintend over us.
“We wish every citizen to come and join this course and
have a national belief system that makes us all unite in defence of our
national interest.”
Machacha denied charges that the courses were partisan, in
favour of the ruling party.
“Chitepo is not a party institution, but a national
heritage school detached from the ruling party,” he said.
However, unions representing civil servants on Friday condemned
the indoctrination lessons as unconstitutional and partisan.
“It is very unfortunate that the Zanu PF government
continues to manipulate our civil servants, forcing them to participate in
training that is clearly partisan.
“We condemn such acts, which really violate the
constitution of our people and the fundamental rights of the civil servants,”
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president Obert Masaraure
said.
“We still have an inherent right of freedom of association
and assembly. We can’t be forcing people to associate with the ruling party
against their will.
“If we force them to be partisan, we are then dividing an
already divided nation.”
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe president
Takavafira Zhou weighed in, saying there is nothing national about the Chitepo
School of Ideology.
“It is a Zanu PF ideological college and not at all
national. Anything that is partisan must be resisted by all level-headed
Zimbabweans, and as teachers and civil servants, we don’t see any need to be
affiliated to any political party,” Zhou said.
“The whole aspect of trying to send civil servants to an
ideological college is the issue of propaganda, propagating propaganda so that
civil servants parrot a political party propaganda.
“That in itself is not enviable, and we will resist that by
all means necessary.”
In October 2021, the government attracted criticism from
unions representing nurses after proposing to introduce patriotism and
induction modules for health workers.
The proposed modules were meant to cover public health
service orientation, which speaks to national heritage and patriotism among
others.
In the recent past, there were plans to have civil service
jobs reserved for youths who went through the notorious Border Gezi national
youth service (NYS).
The NYS programme, launched by the late Youth minister
Border Gezi in 2001, was introduced with the aim of drilling revolutionary and
patriotic ideologies into the country’s young citizens. Standard
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