Centre News Hub
HARARE — The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has challenged the nation to move beyond commemorations this Heroes Day, saying political independence without economic justice has left war veterans, workers and pensioners living in poverty.
ZCTU Secretary General Tirivanhu Marimo said while the labour body joins Zimbabweans in honouring those who died for independence and the role of the Defence Forces, the nation must ask: what has independence delivered to the ordinary worker, the war veteran, the pensioner and millions living in poverty?
“Minerals are abundant, but people are poor. More than four decades after 1980, many heroes and heroines continue to live in poverty and indignity, struggling to access healthcare, housing, food and social security,” said ZCTU.
The union said Zimbabwe’s vast mineral wealth — including gold, platinum, lithium, diamonds, chrome, coal and nickel — has not translated into decent livelihoods.
“The issue is therefore not whether Zimbabwe possesses sufficient resources. The fundamental question is: who benefits from those resources?” Marimo said.
ZCTU called for a national framework to ensure equitable distribution of mineral wealth, demanding: Greater transparency in mining revenues, Effective taxation of resource rents, Local beneficiation and value addition, Decent work in mining, Investment of proceeds into health, education, housing and social protection
“The extraction of minerals cannot become a mechanism for transferring national wealth from the many to the few,” Marimo added.
The union stressed that the liberation struggle was about more than a change of government. It was fought for political freedom, economic justice, equality, human dignity and control over national resources.
“ZCTU believes that Zimbabwe’s liberation remains incomplete where economic power and national wealth remain concentrated in the hands of a privileged few while the majority struggle to survive,” said ZCTU.
The union proposed a national programme for redistribution and inclusive development that includes
Living wages, Universal social protection, Dignified pensions, Quality public services, Strong measures against corruption and illicit financial flows
ZCTU said the welfare of liberation war veterans and pensioners must be treated as a national social obligation, not a political favour.
It also urged the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association to remain non-partisan, and called on the Defence Forces to remain professional, disciplined, constitutional and non-partisan with loyalty to the Constitution rather than to individuals.
On workers’ rights, the union said freedom of association, collective bargaining and the right to lawful industrial action are part of the liberation legacy and “must never be criminalised or treated as acts of treason.”
“We call for investigations into alleged corruption within law enforcement, particularly traffic police roadblocks and extortion. There cannot be one law for politically connected individuals and another for ordinary citizens,” said Marimo.
“National Heroes Day and Defence Forces Day should not merely be ceremonial occasions. They should provide an opportunity for the nation to reflect honestly upon the unfinished business of independence,” Marimo said.
ZCTU concluded that the struggle for political independence must culminate in economic justice.
