ZCTU reflects on police brutality as three commemorations are blocked

THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Harare Region Saturday held Police Brutality Day commemorations amid reports that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP disrupted similar events in three other cities.

The event has been held annually in honor of workers who were mercilessly beaten up by the police September 13, 2006, after gathering peacefully to demand better lives, decent wages and an improvement in their social and economic conditions were met with State violence.

A total 147 trade unionists were tortured and brutalised across the country, with several sustaining injuries which left permanent consequences among some.

In a keynote address to officially mark the 2026 commemorations, ZCTU Secretary General Tirivanhu Marimo said the 2006 event is remembered as a reflection of an attack on the fundamental right of workers to organise, speak, assemble and demand social justice.

He also bemoaned the fact that the ZRP officers had sustained the trajectory 19 years later as witnessed by the dispersal of workers who had gathered to commemorate this year’s event in Masvingo, Mutare and Chinhoyi.

“On this solemn occasion, we remember the workers and trade union leaders who endured unimaginable suffering. We remember Comrades Lovemore Matombo, Wellington Chibebe and Lucia Matibenga, among the senior ZCTU leaders who were arrested and subjected to brutal treatment at Matapi Police Station.

“We remember Comrade Wellington Chibebe, who suffered fractures to his wrist and hand, a scalp laceration and extensive bruising, with the injuries reportedly resulting in permanent damage. The injuries were not minor,” he said.

Marimo said the former ZCTU secretary general, Chibebe, who currently serves as the Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office in Lusaka overseeing Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique, and acts as the ILO Special Representative to COMESA endured serious cuts to his head, three broken bones and extensive bruising and swelling.

Later testimony presented to the ILO documented that he required seven stitches to his head, a steel plate and 16 stitches for his broken arm, while two broken fingers required pins and stitching. He was left with only partial use of his left hand. He had also suffered substantial blood loss and was eventually operated on after being held under police guard in hospital.

He said the former late ZCTU president, Matombo suffered a broken arm/finger and extensive bruising and swelling while Matibenga had whip marks and lacerations across her body, a swollen neck and damaged eardrums that impaired her hearing.

The other victims like Moses Ngondo had a broken arm and broken leg; Denis Chiwara suffered a broken leg and a rupture involving a previous operation; James Gumbi had cuts on his back and buttocks and was unable to sit; while George Nkiwani was so badly swollen that he too could not sit.

“These were trade unionists whose crime was participating in organised labour action. We remember comrades who were beaten on the soles of their feet and left with lasting disabilities. We remember all those whose physical and psychological wounds were carried long after the headlines disappeared,” Marimo said.

The ZCTU leader said what makes that brutality even more painful is that it was followed by statements from the highest levels of government that appeared to justify the violence rather than condemn it.

He underscored that the lessons from 2006 is therefore clear: when the State treats workers legitimate demands as a threat, democracy itself is threatened prompting the ILO Commission of Inquiry to subsequently examine serious allegations of quasi-systematic arrest, detention, harassment and intimidation of trade union leaders and members for legitimate trade union activities.

“The repression did not end in 2006, it resurfaced under the so-called New-Dispensation in October 2018, ZCTU leaders including Peter Mutasa and Japhet Moyo were arrested during protests against economic measures and new fiscal policies.

“In January 2019, the labour movement again became a central target after ZCTU called a national stay-away following the dramatic increase in fuel prices. The wider January 2019 crackdown was even more devastating. Human rights organisations documented deaths, hundreds of arrests and widespread injuries, including gunshot wounds,” added Marimo.

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