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ZCTU congress preparations said to be on course

by Nare Msupatsila
24 Jun 2011 at 12:40hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions today said it would like to clear misconceptions that are arising from recent press reports insinuating that the forthcoming Congress to be held in August is mired in controversy.

In a press statement, the ZCTU said, there is no controversy shrouding the Congress as it will go on as planned on 19 and 20 August 2011 in Bulawayo. The regional conferences have come and gone and everything was done above board with new regional structures elected into office.

A week prior to the regional conferences there was a barrage of newspaper articles alleging that Raymond Majongwe was not happy with the preparations as his members were being barred from attending the conferences. This, ZCTU say was despite Majongwe knowing well the provisions in the ZCTU constitution that only paid up members would participate in any ZCTU activity.

ZCTU says Majongwe further threw tantrums saying his members would not participate but what he fails to reveal is that his union paid the due subscriptions on Saturday 18 June 2011, on the day of the conferences, and his members were able to participate. He also fails to reveal that his members were elected into the regional structures in Bulawayo, Gweru and Masvingo. Now he turns around to say he will challenge the results of the conferences – what hypocrisy!

The Congress also claim that in the past it has also been alleged that the ZCTU Secretary General, Wellington Chibebe 'smuggled' the two-term limit for leadership positions into the ZCTU constitution, now the Deputy Secretary General, Japhet Moyo is the one who is being accused. The issue of the two-term limit is well documented and no single individual can amend the ZCTU Constitution so these are baseless claims of individuals bent on scuttling the 19 and 20 August Congress.

"It is unfortunate that we have people who claim to be leaders but are failing to show leadership at this crucial moment of the workers' struggle by playing dirty and displaying school boy excitement over mere posts. Workers on the ground know whom they want in leadership and they will decide on 19 and 20 August 2011. Just a word of advice to colleagues - Congress positions are not won in newspapers!" said the press statement.


Source - Byo24News
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