Success Majaramhepo and Rutendo Bamu:
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and teachers unions, PTUZ and ARTUZ, have added pressure on the President Emmerson Mnangagwa administration in solidarity with protesting doctors over the alleged abduction of medical doctor Peter Magombeyi.
The groups in separate Press conference in Harare said they are calling their embers to join the strike as they pile on pressure on the regime to release or find the abducted doctor, who was taken by suspected State security agents last Saturday night.
PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe said: “We want the immediate return of Magombeyi to his family in the state he was before they abducted him.”
He added that teachers were going on industrial action to support their colleagues in the medical fraternity and safe return of Magombeyi.
“Our members will be withdrawing labour on Friday, 20 September, if our demands are not met. We wish all teachers and learners a happy prayerful Friday and we urged every to hold your bible at yours homes,” Majongwe added.
ARTUZ Secretary General Robson Chere further stated that besides striking for Magombeyi’s abductions they also want their salaries to be indexed with the prevailing interbank rates.
“We demand the immediate safe return of Magombeyi to his family and the indexing of our salaries to the prevailing interbank United States dollar rate,” he said.
Meanwhile, Crisis Coalition also added its voice to the calls for the release of Magombeyi and threatened radical action if he was not returned immediately.
“We reiterate our calls for his immediate release and call on the Government of Zimbabwe to immediately stop persecuting unionist and human rights defenders and we warned Mnangagwa the same way we warned Mugabe in 2016 that unless they repent their end will be catastrophic,” said Zimbabwe Divine Destiny Bishop Ancelimo Magaya.
He also invited all citizens to come for prayers on Magombeyi’s release in Harare Gardens tomorrow at1:00pm
Foreign affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo has since said the government security agents have increased their investigations into the alleged abduction of Magombeyi and would leave no stone unturned until they reach the bottom of it.
