ZAPU Strongly warns ZANU PF on workers' dismissals

ZAPU strongly deplores the current willy-nilly firing of workers by private and public organisations. Workers are human beings, workers are people, and workers are mothers, fathers, sisters and therefore not objects of ridicule or punch bags. They have responsibilities for their families, to ensure that their families are fed, bills paid and children go to school. Without a job all this is not possible.

People should not be fooled by the Court judgement into thinking that the government of ZANU PF has nothing to do with this callous act. WE all know that the hand of darkness is behind this evil, the ZANU PF government is wholly in control of the Courts and therefore any judgement of such magnitude will always reflect ZANU PF's political thinking. This anti people stance smells ZANU PF all over, and over the years we have witnessed too many such stands.
 
Such betrayal of workers is synonymous to the betrayal of the people through bad and discriminatory governance which we have witnessed since 1980.

It should be remembered that the genesis and cradle of the liberation struggle was strongly linked to the plight of workers who were denied employment rights, faced discriminatory practices, and faced unfair treatment, low wages and poor working conditions. Our forebears stood up, organised themselves and said enough is enough. The formation of political parties was precipitated by workers' organisations/trade unions.

Strong political leaders emerged from the workers' organisations, for example Rhodesia African Workers' Union produced the father of the liberation struggle Dr Joshua Nkomo; African workers' Voice association produced leaders such as Benjamin Burombo; Jasper Savanhu emerged from the Ferderation of Bulawayo African Workers' Union; Charles Mzingeli came from the Reformed Industrial commercial Workers Union; and Masotsha Ndlovu from Industrial and Commercial Workers Union and many other leaders; Joseph Msika, James Chikerema, George Nyandoro Jason Moyo.

Violation of workers' rights is a violation of their Human rights, the most fundamental right being the right to life. The modern life demands that one has an access to a job or means to earn an honest living, without this there is no life worth living. When people are treated like maggots to be trampled on and their jobs taken away willy-nilly like that, fertile conditions for political despondence and revolutionary agitation is set in motion. This has happened before, here and elsewhere and it will happen again. ZAPU sternly warns the government of ZANU PF to stop abusing the people of Zimbabwe. The government should be creating jobs not dismissing people as if they do not have lives to live and as if they do not have families to take care of. Where are the 2 million jobs promised during the electioneering period? Any government which betrays the trust of its people and betrays the values of the liberation struggle does not deserve to lead the people and ZANU PF has betrayed the values of the liberation struggle on countless occasions.

ZAPU calls upon the Army to desist from being used for Party political purposes. It was telling when President Robert Mugabe in his Heroes day's speech said that the army has been instrumental in preventing regime change. Regime change against what? Is it not the constitutional right for the people of Zimbabwe to change their government from time to time if it no longer serves their interests? Why then do Mugabe and ZANU PF criminalise the peaceful, constitutional and legal regime change agenda as envisaged by the people of Zimbabwe? When the peaceful route is closed as was during the Rhodesian times, people are left with one possible recourse, which is antithesis to the peaceful political processes. The army should be non-partisan, it should defend the people's sovereign rights against foreign elements but above all against the government which has turned rogue. The guns should not be pointing at the ordinary citizens but at the government. When ZAPU comes into power the police, the army, the CIO and all other security apparatus will be turned into professional services whose mandates will be to work for the interests of the people not political parties. Professionalism will liberate the security forces from the fear they are currently experiencing as ZANU PF has turned them to ZANU PF stooges who spy on each other and whose basic work is to brutalise the citizens into submission.

Our president raised an emotive issue of heroes and heroines whose heads were decapitated during  uMvukela Wakuqala, but as predicted he continued on his destructive and divisive path. He only mentioned the names of the people of his tribe but ignored the plight of the people like King Lobhengula Khumalo, Mgandane Dlodlo and others. This was a deliberate omission, we know it.

In a ZAPU led government the selection of heroes will be left to an independent and all-inclusive board. The hero status conferment will never be partisan like what is currently taking place. ZANU PF is unashamed that it has reduced the definition of a hero to someone who bootlicks ZANU PF and sings the loudest the name of their god-father.
 
ZAPU will democratise the process through involving the ordinary people in discussions about what they want to see happening, if the people's decision will be to see the heroes interred in their home areas so that they will ‘sleep' peacefully besides their parents and grandparents, ZAPU will go with that. If the people decide that many who are currently lying at National heroes Acres but known not be deserving the honour that need to be exhumed and removed from there, ZAPU will go with the people's decision.