By Innocent Mujeri
Tensions are mounting within the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) amid reports that Peter Mutasa, ZCTU president, is planning to expel the Secretary General, Thomas Masvinge from the labour movement on allegations of challenging him for that organisation’s presidency.
A contact within the ZCTU who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity, said Mutasa and Masvinge are not seeing eye to eye after the latter has declared his intentions to challenge for the ZCTU’s presidency at the Congress slated for October this year.
“ All is not well within the organisation (ZCTU).Members are jostling for positions ahead of the Congress likely to be held in October this year. This has seen the president (Mutasa) using his proxies to push for the expulsion of SG Masvinge from the organisation on allegations of leaking confidential information to the media .Mutasa knows that if Masvinge challenges him for the presidency, he will surely win because he commands a lot of respect from the organisation’s affiliates,” said the contact.
The contact further revealed that Mutasa held a secret meeting with some members of the executive where they agreed to push for the ouster of Masvinge through a vote of no confidence.
“Mutasa held a meeting with his proxies and agreed that they should pass a vote of no confidence on Masvinge .However, Mutasa and his supporters are wasting their time as the ZCTU constitution has no provision for a vote of no confidence on a member,” added the contact.
According to the contact, a lot of ZCTU members are supporting Masvinge for the presidency as they accuse Mutasa of spending time engaging in opposition politics at the expense of the workers.
“The ZCTU members are not happy with how Mutasa is steering the ship. Mutasa has become more of an opposition activist than a labor movement leader. His duty as the president is to push for improvement of the workers welfare. However, he has found himself entangled in the MDC factional fights at the expense of the workers. This is the reason members now want Masvinge to take over as he possesses good leadership qualities as compared to Mutasa, said the contact.
Since his election into office in 2016,Mutasa was always at loggerheads with law enforcement agents .In 2019 Mutasa, together with Harare cleric and activist Evan Mawarire, recorded and circulated on social media, a video calling on Zimbabweans to go on a three-day stay away . The stay away turned chaotic as rogue MDC activists barricaded roads with burning tyres, damaged vehicles and looted businesses.
