ZCTU Leaders Receive Mailed Bullets And Warned Against 22 July Stay Away

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said in a statement on Tuesday that its leaders, president Peter Mutasa and secretary-general Japhet Moyo have received letters that had bullets in them. The statement, signed by Moyo, reads:

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) President Peter Mutasa and Secretary General, Japhet Moyo today received letters from unidentified people that had bullets in it [sic].

The letters were warning them not to organise a stay away on 22 July 2019. The letters threatened to kill the two and harm their families. The writers of the letters said, “we have mercenaries to deal with you once and for all – unless you stop what you are planning”.

The ZCTU is taking these threats seriously and we are worried that our leaders are not safe. However, we believe the threats are part and parcel of efforts to intimidate the ZCTU leaders from discharging their duties. The police will be notified of the incident.

In January 2019, ZCTU planned a nationwide stay away following an unprecedented fuel price hike. The protests shook the country to its core as the country was literally shut down for several days and the leaders were subsequently charged with treason.