PERMANENT Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana, has dismissed the alleged abduction and torture of a teachers’ union leader as stage-managed.
In a hard-hitting response to news that Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union (ARTUZ) president Obert Masaraure was abducted and tortured on Wednesday evening, Mangwana dismissed the attack as stage-managed, saying even the injury scars do not look fresh at all.
Masaraure said some assailants who are yet to be identified dragged him out of his Waterfalls home on Wednesday night in full view of his wife and kids, kidnapped him to some place he could not identify, and tortured him before dumping him in the chilly cold of Thursday morning.
Pictures circulated on Thursday showed Masaraure with whip marks on his back, arms and buttocks.
He says he has has been targeted by suspected State security agents because of his vocal stance in pushing for a salary increase.
Teachers want a salary review, citing the increase in the price of basics and has called for a strike by teachers.
Pictures circulated on Thursday showed Masaraure with whip marks on his back, arms and buttocks.
On Monday, Masaraure’s ARTUZ pushed for a three-day stay away which flopped after teachers largely ignored the call.
The main labour body, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has also ignored calls for a stay away, as its leader Peter Mutasa attendd the launch of the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the capital city on Wednesday.
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The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is reportedly been pushing for the TNF, saying it is the best way forward to address Zimbabwe’s labour-to-government relations, hence the attendance by the ZCTU.
Meanwhile, EU Ambassador to Harare, Timo Olkkonen tweeted that the assault of Mr. Obert Masaraure was unjust and unacceptable.
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Nelson Chamisa said Masaraure’s kidnap, coming hot on the heels of the detention of his deputy Godfrey Chanda in Gweru on Tuesday, pointed to the deterioration of the political situation in Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe has turned into a pariah state and banana republic,” Chamisa said on Twitter.
Masaraure and other unionists say they have of late been targeted for urging their members to go on strike for three days starting on Monday this week.
On Tuesday, ARTUZ reported that two of its officials were arrested in Gweru by CID officers and warned to desist from calling for a stay away.
Masaraure’s wife reportedly raised the alarm after six men wearing masks stormed their home and grabbed her husband in front of their terrified children before driving away into the night.
-Online