Parly inquiry into mineworkers shooting

Patricia Mpofu

HARARE – The Zimbabwe Congress Trade Unions (ZCTU) on Tuesday said Parliament should lead an inquiry into the shooting of workers by police at an asbestos mine in the south-west of the country.

The labour body spoke following an announcement by co-Home Affairs Minister Giles Mutsekwa last Sunday that a board of inquiry would be set up to establish the conduct of the police last September when they shot and seriously wounded three workers at Shabanie Mine near the town of Zvishavane.

Mutsekwa said police chief Augustine Chihuri would be asked to recommend people to sit on the board, adding that no one from the Midlands province would be part of the probe team.

But the ZCTU, which has called for the resignations of Mutsekwa and Kembo Mohadi – the other co-Home Affairs Minister – for failing to ensure that police uphold the rule of the law, said the inquiry into the Zvishavane shootings should be led by Parliament.

“The ZCTU welcomes the moves to institute the inquiry into the shootings that took place at Shabanie Mine in September, however, the ZCTU prefers that the commission of inquiry be Parliament-led,” said ZCTU acting secretary general Japhet Moyo.

Moyo said Mutsekwa, Mohadi and Chihuri should not have a say on who would constitute the inquiry team.

“The ZCTU believes the involvement of these figures is tantamount to them handpicking people to investigate their conduct. Our calls for an inquiry did not border on the shootings alone but the ZCTU also wanted circumstances leading to workers not being paid since January 2009 probed,” said Moyo.

He charged that Shabanie Mine management selectively harassed, intimidated and dismissed scores of workers, soon after the shooting incident.

“Consequently, a Parliament-led inquiry would do justice to this issue as it will take a wholesome approach to the matter and not only look at the shooting incident. We demand that a Parliament-led inquiry be established without further delay,” he said.

Three workers at Shabanie Mine were shot in September after riot police were called to disperse about 2 000 striking workers angry over failure by company management to pay their monthly salaries since February 2009.

The ZCTU earlier this month called for the resignations of the co-Home Affairs ministers following a court ruling quashing charges against ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo and four staffers arrested for allegedly holding an illegal meeting in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

The labour body said there was urgent need to reform the police for the force to work independently without taking instructions from politicians.

Mohadi is a member of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party while Mutsekwa belongs to the MDC-T party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a traditional ally of the ZCTU.

The MDC-T insisted to jointly control the home affairs department with ZANU PF in order to ensure people did not abuse their powers. However, reining in Chihuri – a top ZANU PF loyalist – has proved an easier said than done task for Mutsekwa. – ZimOnline

Did you find this information helpful? If you did, consider donating to fund our operations.