Mnangagwa lost legitimacy test – ZCTU

HARARE – Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) President Peter Mutasa last week described the New Dispensation under President Emmerson Mnangagwa as worse than the late Robert Mugabe’s era especially for civil servants.

Mutasa who was speaking at the Save Zimbabwe event attended by cleric Ancelimo Magaya, opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa and the Zimbabwe National Students Union said the Mnangagwa administration has lost legitimacy.

“There are many sector issues. There are many particular interests. There are many analyses that need to be made in terms of the journey that we have travelled and in terms of the current environment,” said the leader of the biggest workers union platform.

“We need a reflective process to reflect on all these issues. It is my submissions that the citizens facing a heightened crisis should come together and look at all these issues together. 

“We have a tripartite negotiating forum which is a platform where we negotiate, discuss and share ideas with government, business and labor.

“We have been fighting for that platform for over two decades and now we got it legislated but I can tell you the current mentality of Zimbabwean government is that they don’t care about citizens. 

“I have said the government has lost legitimacy. I’m not really much conversant with the political side of legitimacy about how we fight politically and attain power but that is important. 

“I am very much well versed with the input and output legitimacy whether citizens have voice. We don’t have voice. Whether the government responds to citizens demands. 

“The current government does not respond to citizens demand, so workers and citizens have got only one option in my view. It is for them to come together build through civic education, build through an active citizenry and use their agency to demand from the government. 

“Government will respond when workers, citizens, students, churches have united and make clear demands.

Mutasa said citizens should not expect the ZANU PF government to admit that there is a crisis in the country.

“It is expected that government will say there is no crisis. The abuser will always see peace but the victims won’t be able to breathe. They will be telling you I can’t breathe but the abusers will be seeing peace because they are benefiting. 

“One thing that is central to this whole debacle about whether there is a crisis or not, [is] they are not just defending political power and this is why we want all politicians to be aware. 

“They are not defending political power, they are on steroids in terms of primitive accumulation. They are defending economic gains, they are defending their diamonds, their gold claims. They are defending land, they are defending ill-gotten wealth, so they will not hand it in easily. 

“If you think they are rich, they think they are not yet rich. If you think they are millionaires, they want to be billionaires. If you think they are billionaires, they want their kids to be millionaires. 

“If you think their kids are now billionaires, they want their grandchildren to be billionaires too. We have no choice, it is a generational call we need to be persistent government is not going to give it on a silver platter,” said Mutasa.