GILES MUTSEKWA . . . MDC-T co-Home Affairs Minister

HARARE – The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country’s biggest labour union, on Thursday called for the immediate resignation of co-ministers of home affairs Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa for failing to ensure that police uphold the rule of the law.

The call for Mohadi and Mutsekwa to quit follows a court ruling earlier in the day the quashing charges against ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo and four staffers – Michael Kandukutu, Dumisani Ncube, Nawu Ndlovu, and Percy Mcijo – arrested last Sunday for allegedly holding an illegal meeting in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

Magistrate Richard Ramaboea yesterday said the police had no authority under the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA) to arrest trade unionists for holding a meeting because they belong to professional bodies.

Wellington Chibebe, the ZCTU secretary-general, in a hard-hitting statement after the release of Matombo and the staffers said there was urgent need to reform the police for the force to work independently.

He said the police were taking instructions from politicians instead of doing a professional work.

Chibebe said: “The comments made by the police through state owned media that the ZCTU should have sought police clearance before holding the meeting smack of a police force that acts on political decisions and not on whether one has a case to answer or not.

“This is not the kind of police that Zimbabweans want, but unfortunately we have to live with such. This points to the fact that we definitely need to reform the police so that we have a professional non-partisan force. The infamous POSA clearly does not cover trade unions but the police continue to disrupt trade union activities in the name of POSA. The police should be undoubtedly ashamed of their actions.”

Chibebe expressed disappointment in the actions of Mutsekwa and Mohadi saying the ministers have failed the nation. “The best present they can offer Zimbabweans is to resign,” he said.

Mohadi is a member of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party while Mutsekwa belongs to the MDC-T party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a traditional ally of the ZCTU.

The MDC-T insisted to jointly control the home affairs department with ZANU PF in order to ensure people did not abuse their powers. However, reining in Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri – a top ZANU PF loyalist – has proved an easier said than done task for Mutsekwa.

The arrest of the five unionists was roundly condemned by the labour movement across the world with the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) writing to Mugabe release of the ZCTU officials. – ZimOnline