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Incidents of trade unions rights repression in Zimbabwe in past 12 months
Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
May 20, 2005

May 1st, 2004
Kwekwe: The ZCTU failed to commemorate the Workers’ Day in Kwekwe when the hotel owner decided to cancel the booking at the last minute and ordered that the ZCTU be given back their money for the booking. In the process the hotel owner also dismissed the manager for initially booking the meeting for the ZCTU. The hotel owner is a strong member of the ruling ZANU PF party.

June 5, 2004
Masvingo: Masvingo police refuse the ZCTU permission to commemorate the Health and Safety day on June 6 as the event would have clashed with a rally which was being addressed by the Govenor of Masvingo. Mr. Mposhi the ZCTU Regional Chairperson also confirmed that it has become a norm for police to bar them from carrying out trade union activities.

August 3, 2004
Masvingo: The police ordered a ZCTU Labour Forum on taxation issues to disperse threatening tear gas. Participants did so, thinking that, if tear gas was used inside the theatre where the workshop was taking place, there were likely to be injuries.

August 5, 2004
Gweru: Four ZCTU leaders were arrested in Gweru at a ZCTU workshop and charged under POSA, detained for two nights and then given bail for $200,000 each. Initially, the leaders were arrested for allegedly organizing a workshop without police clearance but the police later changed the charges. The four are Secretary General Wellington Chibebe, 1st Vice-President, Lucia Matibenga, Central Region Vice Chairperson, Sam Machinda and Advocacy Officer, Timothy Kondo.

August 21, 2004
Bulawayo: Suspected thieves broke into the offices of the Progressive Teachers’ Union in Bulawayo and stole computer diskettes, files and two chairs. The burglars also tore apart the PTUZ banner. The burglary was seen as politically motivated as confirmed in a statement by the General Secretary of the PTUZ.

September 4, 2004
Bulawayo: The Zimbabwe Amalgamated Railwaymen’s Union (ZARU), a ZCTU affiliate, complained in a statement about the presence of war veterans at company premises at the National Railways of Zimbabwe. Reports of harassment have been received from workers by these war veterans as the workers feel that the war veterans were targeting those workers involved in Trade Union work.

September 3, 2004
Penhalonga: A mine worker was shot and injured by police at Redwing Mine in Penhalonga near Mutare after the employee attempted to set alight a police vehicle in a bid to spark off commotion during a strike by the mine workers. The strike was organized by members of the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), a rival trade union of the ZCTU. Officials from the Associated Mine Workers of Zimbabwe, an affiliate of the ZCTU disassociated themselves from the strike as they said the action was organized to discredit the ZCTU affiliate for failing to speed up negotiations for a 20 percent salary increment. Of late the ZFTU has been making efforts to destabilize workers by applying unorthodox means and illegal practices at the workplace which include extortion, intimidation and threatening workers who refuse to join their union.

September 21, 2004
Masvingo: Two plain clothed policeman who claimed to be coming from the President’s Office insist on attending a ZCTU collective bargaining workshop as they said they wanted to determine whether it was not a political gathering. They had to leave after being shown a copy of the 2002 High court judgement which prevents police from interfering with ZCTU trade union business. This marked an increase in the number of other ZCTU activities whereby the police have insisted on attending and this has also affected other civic society groups.

October 26, 2004
Harare: Expulsion from Zimbabwe of a visiting delegation from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). The South African mission to Zimbabwe had been scheduled to last a week and its aim was to talk to as many people as possible, from the widest spectrum, to establish whether allegations of attacks on human rights and trade union freedoms were true and whether there were conditions for free and fair elections next year. The expulsion came shortly after the South African trade unionists had started their official program in the country, as police invaded the headquarters of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) during their initial meeting with the visiting COSATU delegation.

October 31, 2004
Harare: Police raided the home of the Deputy Secretary-General, Collin Gwiyo of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) in Harare but did not arrest him because he was not there.

February 2, 2005
Harare: A delegation from the ICFTU-affiliated Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was immediately expelled on arrival in Zimbabwe by the country's immigration authorities. Three months ago, a similar COSATU delegation was expelled from Zimbabwe. In both instances, expulsions constitute blatant violations of the basic rights to conduct trade union affairs free from state interference and in the interest of workers’ solidarity.

March 10, 2005
President Robert Mugabe's government has banned all southern African labour federations from observing the coming elections because they wanted to include COSATU members in their delegation. The regional trade union bodies had applied to Zimbabwe authorities for permission to send an observer mission under the regional umbrella body, the Southern African Trade Union Co-ordination Council (SATUCC).

March 15, 2005
President Robert Mugabe's government said that it will not let ZCTU monitor the parliamentary elections, charging that it is an agent of Britain, former colonial ruler.

April 12, 2005
Harare: ZCTU President Mr. Lovemore Matombo and his deputy Ms. Lucia Matibenga had to run for their lives when they were physically attacked by provocateurs from two affiliates of ZCTU, the Construction Workers and the Leather Workers Unions, over alleged corruption and mismanagement.

April 23, 2005
Bulayawo: At the ZCTU General Council meeting, four men jumped up and assaulted the Secretary General Wellington Chibebe and Tabitha Khumalo, a member of the International Relations Committee. The President, Lovemore Matombo, and the first Vice President, Lucia Matibenga, were ordered out of the room as well. Earlier this year, the reliable news service Zim Online broke a story that the CIO had been tasked to engineer a leadership change at the ZCTU and ensure pro-government leaders take over control of the powerful union.

April 27, 2005
Mutare: The police stormed into a ZCTU May Day preparatory meeting at the Helenic Club and called off the meeting before arresting five Regional Council members and one member of the ZCTU General Council. The police were alleging that the meeting contravened the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) which gives the police the powers to sanction public meetings. Trade unions are exempted from seeking clearance from the police.

April 28, 2005
Harare: On International Workers Day for Health and Safety, the National Social Security Authority board organised a march through town and an address by the guest of honour, the ILO Representative, after the march. The Zimbabwe Republic Police intervened and told all the ZCTU members present to leave the venue at once. The march was also attended by members of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIA), an umbrella body set up with ZCTU support. Very few people were left to hear the ILO guest of honour address the gathering and the march was cancelled. ZCTU activists and staff members were arrested, including the Health and Safety Coordinator, Nathan Banda, and the Informal Economy project staff, Elijah Mutemeri and Vimbai Mushongera. The police detained them for more than an hour before their release.

May 6, 2005
Harare: Elijah Mutemeri, the Informal Economy Project Coordinator, was called by the Zimbabwe Republic Police Department of Criminal Investigations (ZRP CID). It was not stated which cases he had to answer neither was the complainant identified. However this happened amid rumours alleging that billions of funds were misused by the project. Despite the seriousness of such allegation, the investigators had no proof and no informant. Elijah Mutemeri was interrogated for 3 hours. They eventually released him and no case was even opened as there was no official complainant, nor any form of indication of wrong doing. After his release, Elijah Mutemeri is strongly convinced that the police sent the hooligans that harassed him on his way home. Once at home, he saw two different suspicious cars coming around at different times. Although nothing happened, he felt extremely intimidated and feared for his life.

May 12, 2005
Harare: The Commercial Workers' Union of Zimbabwe (CWUZ) was to hold their Projects Committee meeting at their Waterfalls headquarters. Ten security guards from Chinotimba's security company arrived at the CWUZ headquarters in ZANU/PF marked trucks. Chinotimba is a war veteran who is founder of the government-sponsored ZFTU, hence his access to several defenders (vehicles). The group immediately begun to prevent staff members from leaving the premises and at the same time they were preventing Projects Committee members from entering the premises, alleging that the meeting was illegal. The meeting was abandoned. Eventually the police were called. They assisted staff members from leaving the premises for their homes. Early the next day, the same group returned demanding entry into the premises, stating that the National Executive Committee meeting which was scheduled to take place at the premises should not take place. The meeting was also aborted. CWUZ President, Mrs Lucia Matibenga, is also ZCTU’s First National Vice-President.

May 13, 2005
Harare: Armed police raided the offices of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), seizing documents and computer disks. Fourteen males arrived at the ZCTU headquarters at Chester House in Harare, at around 10.00 am, identifying themselves as ZRP CID plainclothes division. They had a list with them. They read from it and asked to see a number of ZCTU staff members. The receptionist advised the police that the persons they wanted to see were out of the building at that time. The police explained that they wanted to review the ZCTU accounts books. They also asked the ZCTU Secretary General's assistant to hand over specific documents from his office. The police eventually left with two (2) truck loads of ZCTU documents as well as the ZCTU legal adviser, lawyer, security detail and accountant around lunchtime.

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