Zimbabwe Dissent Crackdown Intensifies As Number Of Arrests Increases

A number of protesting teachers, their lawyer, and a journalist were apparently arrested in Harare by Zimbabwe police.

Zimbabwe union leaders trying to petition on Friday outside the finance ministry for higher wages as well as to inform government they intend to embark on a mass stay away until their salary matter was resolved, have been arrested, along with a journalist and a lawyer.

Members of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe were detained alongside their lawyer Douglas Coltart, as well as local reporter Leopold Munhende.

A petition was to be delivered to Zimbabwe’s finance minister, Mthuli Ncube.
Reason for the rising number of arrests in Zimbabwe

The arrests are widely viewed as a crackdown by the embattled ZANU-PF, which has been heavy-handed against any form of dissent as Zimbabwe grapples with a swiftly deteriorating local economy.

Contents of the petition:

The petition, signed by the union’s secretary-general Robson Chere, said Zimbabwe teachers were living in abject poverty because of the slashing of salaries from around $500 to the current $38.

This affected the ability to deliver quality teaching services, said the petition, which was exacerbated by prices of services offered by government [having] increased by up to 500%.

The petition said the teachers were disgusted with the stinking appetite for executive luxuries by the ruling elites and the insincere negotiations held under the banner of the National Joint Negotiated Council (NJNC).

“Failure to restore the value of our salaries spells doom for our education sector. Our members will not be resuming their duties at the opening of the third term,” said Chere. – African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Moses Mudzwiti