by Innocent Mujeri
The much-publicized Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) demonstration which was supposed to be staged across the country, has flopped as some union members failed to turn up arguing that the demonstration was politically motivated.
Speaking to Harare Post yesterday, one ARTUZ member who identified herself as Stella, said they snubbed the demonstration as they felt that their leader Obert Masaraure was now using the plight of teachers to attract donor funds for his own personal use.
“Most ARTUZ members failed to turn up for the demonstration as they felt used by Masaraure. Members learnt that Masaraure was given some funds by certain donors to pay participants, but he converted it to his personal use. Teachers are adults and they cannot continue to be used by Masaraure to score cheap political goals,” said Stella.
A handful of ARTUZ members led by one Sheila Chirisamhuru, gathered at Mucheke District Education offices in Masvingo, yesterday where they disrupted the smooth flow of business, singing vulgar songs and denigrating Government.
One Government official working in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in Masvingo who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity said the demonstration was politically motivated.
“The demonstration seems to be politically driven. The characters that demonstrated did not look like teachers and they were chanting MDC slogans, while denigrating President Emmerson Mnangagwa. I was in touch with some teachers across the province and it appears they were not aware of the ARTUZ demonstration,” said the Government official.
Harare Post has learnt that Masaraure organized the demonstration using the money he got from the US Embassy in Harare.
Funds from the US Embassy were meant to push a certain political agenda as there are plans for ARTUZ to morph into an opposition party just like what the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) did in 1999, giving birth to the Movement for Democratic Change.
Analyst, Terrence Chipwanya said the presence of some known MDC members at ARTUZ demonstration in Masvingo clearly showed that the demonstration was politically motivated.
Chipwanya further said it baffled the mind for ARTUZ to purport to demonstrate against low salaries when recently, Government awarded its workers a 50 percent salary increment, topped with US$75.00 COVID-19 allowance.
“I think it’s the first in the world for workers to demonstrate after being given a salary raise by their employer. This clearly shows that these so called ARTUZ members are pushing a nefarious agenda,” said Chipwanya.
Since its formation in 2009, ARTUZ has been accused on a number of occasions of being a public nuisance as it spends much time in stage-managed confrontations with law enforcement agents.
