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THE venue and timing of this year’s 21st February Movement celebrations must be a problem for the organisers.
The movement is named after President Robert Mugabe’s birthday — today.
This year’s celebrations will be held in Bulawayo on Saturday and the organisers expect to raise US$500 000 for the festivities.
The only awkward situation this lavish bash creates is that Bulawayo has introduced water rationing because of a water crisis, which the government has conveniently ignored for decades, pleading lack of resources.
Industries in Bulawayo have either migrated or scaled down their operations because of government’s policies and neglect and the celebrations would unfortunately appear as jubilation over the demise of what once was the country’s most vibrant industrial hub.
For contributions for the festivities the organisers of the celebrations prey on the same private sector enterprises that are threatened by the much-criticised indigenisation laws, gazetted three weeks ago.
The event also comes in the wake of conflicting signals from the Government of National Unity on whether or not it is scrapping implementation of the controversial indigenisation regulations which have attracted the ire of the MDC-T, the business sector and the labour movement .
At any other time and venue the incongruity of this year’s celebrations would not have attracted so much attention and discomfort.
What makes next Saturday’s celebrations in Bulawayo so controversial is that they come against the backdrop of rural hunger. Seven hundred thousand villagers in Matabeleland South are in urgent need of food aid.
The budget set for the celebrations by the organisers is enough to feed an estimated 100 000 starving families in Matabeleland South for a whole month.
It seems an act of gross insensitivity that such an amount is going to be spent in one day on people who are not themselves starving.
But the other reason why feasting is inappropriate is that this is taking place against the backdrop of the ongoing strike by civil servants who are demanding a salary and not allowances.
By holding festivities the government will be telling the striking workers that while it does not have money for their salaries it can however find resources for the celebrations. This will probably incense the civil servants.
For weeks the government has not been able to resolve or address the demands of the striking civil servants, who say they are unconvinced that the government does not have money and are demanding to know where the proceeds from the Chiadzwa diamonds are being diverted.
Unintimidated and with no immediate end in sight to the dispute, the striking workers on Friday marched on Parliament — effectively drawing attention to the failure by the government to resolve the strike.
The workers also want the government to walk the talk. While the government says it has no money, the workers say this is not reflected in the lifestyles of government ministers.
Government says civil service pay takes up at least 60% of revenues, and limited resources make it difficult for the state to increase wages significantly. Civil servants earn between US$122 and US$206 a month and want the government to raise their salaries to US$600.
The stand-off between the workers and the government suggests two things — either the government is not interested or has genuinely run out of ideas on how to resolve the dispute. This is one reason why it has resorted to threatening the striking workers.
Next Saturday’s birthday celebrations can only worsen matters.
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