Mnangagwa condemned for banning strikes

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has been condemned for signing into law a bill that prohibits workers from engaging in industrial action before exhausting ionternal channels of negotiation.

Human rights lawyer Pedzisatyi Ruhanya said, "Zimbabwe under ED and ZANU PF is purely autocratic. How on earth does the Minister of Labour outlaw stayaways and strikes. The good thing is that citizens will respect only just laws. Apartheid and Rhodesia type laws will be rejected.

"The human agency is such that it is very difficult to oppress and suppress no matter how powerful, criminal and violent a regime may be. A regime that just relies on violence without addressing the livelihoods and civil liberties aspirations will not be listen to even by DONKEYS."

Ruhanya added that Mnangagwa was going to fail in implementing the repressive laws.

"JUST as Smith, Mugabe failed to silence Zimbabweans on the exercise of their lawful, legitimate democratic demands for justice and peace, ED and his bunch of political honchos are going to fail. LEGISLATING oppression wont even help Mnangagwa. This guy is very unpopular."

The new law comes at a time when the country's government has stopped police officers from retiring or taking leave.

Labour minister Sekai Nzenza said the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) Bill will ensure that government workers can no longer go on strike before engaging all stakeholders - government, industry captains and the Apex Council that brings together all workers' unions.

"Workers can no longer engage in stayaways before engaging the TNF stakeholders," she said.