Teachers Can’t Breathe- MDC Alliance
17 March 2021
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MDC ALLIANCE NAMIBIA APPLAUDS ARTUZ’S VARLOUR, METTLE AND NERVE TO DECLARE TEACHERS’ INCAPACITATION DESPITE THREATS OF ABDUCTIONS, TORTURE AND ARBITRARY ARRESTS.

17 MARCH 2021

Mdc Alliance Namibia concurs with the vibrant Amalgamated Rural Teachers’Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) on the need for all poor teachers, all progressive citizens in the Mdc Alliance, all parents and parents to be, all comrades and friends to converge so that they can fight collectively against slave wages on the 22 March 2021. It is now imperative for the enslaved teachers to pent up their outrage demanding conducive working and living conditions as well as a better living wage that can assist them to send their children to school. We are in solidarity with Artuz since their push for #SafeSchoolsCampaign alongside #SaveOurEducationZW is a legitimate and constitutional struggle worth offering solidarity.

Moreover, teachers in Zimbabwe should actively resist threats of abductions, torture, arbitrary arrests, salary cessation, suspensions and gear up to confront those who are eating on behalf of vulnerable educators who are languishing in abject poverty. Our underpaid teachers don’t deserve these unsalted peanuts they getting from this insensitive and corrupt government which is not shaken by the shoddy livelihoods displayed by our diligent workers in the education sector. It is quite pathetic that the state has unceremoniously announced the opening of schools again without addressing the incapacitation of our teachers. Despite incapacitation, the reckless Zanupf government did not undertake thorough consultations with stakeholders concerning how it is going to fight the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

We are cobra-headed that this inhuman and politically bankrupt Harare regime is on a rampant operation to dissipate the limbing education system by both exposing helpless learners and the poorly remunerated hardworking teachers to the catastrophic Corona Virus. What mesmerises and hypnotizes Mdc Alliance Namibia is that when our defenceless and poverty-stricken teachers fall victim to the pandemic , their peanuts cannot afford a one day bed in the elite Covid-19 hospitals. The struggle for better salaries is a compulsory struggle for all.

Furthermore, as a district, we are in solidarity with all progressive teachers unions which are sensitive to the plight of the suffering profession. We salute ARTUZ’S leadership for declaring incapacitation as it does not make any sense for our teachers to continue working for looters in the Zanupf government. Our anticipation is to see a collective fight, unions mobilising for district , provincial and national labour forums with concerned parents , and communities to build consensus on the measures and tactics on how to liberate the education fraternity which had subsidised the corrupt and greedy government for decades. All Zimbabweans in the country and in the diaspora should be ready to actively participate in a genuine dialogue aimed at upgrading the meagre salaries received by our mothers, fathers , brothers, sisters and friends.

We absolutely condemn the futile attempt to abduct the firebrand Secretary General Cde Robson Chere who served the Ministry with the incapacitation letter exposing the Union’s determination to be restored to October 2018 salaries of US$540 monthly. The ruthless state has grown extremely desperate as Amalgamated Rural Teachers’Union of Zimbabwe, Artuz is planning on a historical and inclusive protest on the 22 March under the theme #SaveOurEducationZW. Mdc Alliance Namibia remains infuriated that Zanupf-sponsored state agents continue to invade and harass Artuz members countrywide. We would like to warn all overambitious Border Gezi-trained Heads together with freak teachers to bear with incapacitated teachers who are scratching their heads for a single nutritious meal per day.

Moreso, the struggle for a living wage is just , legitimate, constitutional and compulsory since it has become ridiculous for well-furnished teachers to receive less than what Zupco conductors, the police and army are getting given the period of study they undergo to attain various Diplomas and Degrees. Mdc Alliance Namibia lauds the national Gender Secretary cde Moreblessing Nyambara for her boldness and preparedness to attend to the multiple legal and security challenges confronting their constituencies especially after successfully declaring incapacitation coupled by a massive protest on the 22nd of March 2021.

To wind it up, like the organic and pragmatic leadership of Artuz, all labour unions inside and outside the teaching profession, parents , political parties and comrades and friends must converge to resist slave wages for our patriotic teachers.

Mdc Alliance Namibia
Rundu Branch Spokesperson
Robson Ruhanya

MDC Alliance leader, President Nelson Chamisa