Zimbabwe teachers free to engage in politics: Zimta

TEACHERS in rural and urban centres have a democratic right to participate in politics and no violence of any form should be perpetrated against them, the Zimbabwe Teachers Association president Mrs Tendai Chikowore said yesterday.
Mrs Chikowore said this on the sidelines of the teachers' conference held in Harare to commemorate the association's 30th anniversary. "Teachers just like any other citizens are covered by the Constitution of Zimbabwe and as individuals it is their democratic right and their own right to become political activists," Mrs Chikowore said.
She, however, said although it was not Zimta's policy, individuals were free to become political activists.
"We don't have such a policy as an organisation, but as individuals one can choose to become an activist," she said. Mrs Chiko-wore added that this phenomenon was not new as most of the country's legislators have a teaching background.
"Ninety-nine percent of our legislators are former teachers. It's their democratic right as individuals to participate in politics," she said.
Mrs Chikowore made the appeal while addressing representatives from 10 provinces, teachers' representatives from the region including the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, National Association of Namibian Teachers Union, South Africa Democratic Teachers Union, Zambia National Union of Teachers and Botswana Teachers Union. She said teachers particularly in rural areas were the worst affected by political violence.
"We urge our political leaders to engage or embark on strong and principled negotiations towards a political resolution that guarantees peace and security to all Zimbabweans.
"The skirmishes that we saw in Harare, Manicaland and other parts of the country are a bad omen for our prosperity as a people.
"We owe it to future generations that we hold this country together and ensure that when they inherit it from us they may be proud of our political principles," Mrs Chikowore said.
She, however, noted that under the inclusive Government the country had recorded reasonable progress in restoring political and social stability and stabilisation of the economy.
"In brief, the social and political fabric of the country has been significantly altered for the benefit of development and progress.
"However, the protracted negotiations about the implementation and differing interpretation of the Global Political Agreement along myopic and parochial party lines, threatens to derail the reform process that the GPA was meant to institute," she said.
Mrs Chikowore said there were already reports of violence in some parts of the country, an unacceptable situation that reverses the gains of the inclusive government. Political leaders were urged to refrain from hate speech and inflammatory statements that resulted in youths engaging in violence.