More than 5 000 teachers met in Harare on Tuesday at the Harare International Conference Centre, to launch a new union called Teachers for Economic Development (Teachers4ED).
The teachers, who were clad in regalia blended with ZANU PF colours, abandoned their workstations to attend the launch which was graced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Evelyn Ndlovu and other senior ZANU PF members such as Patrick Chinamasa and Oppah Muchinguri.
Addressing the teachers during the launch, Mnangagwa urged the educators to continue supporting ZANU PF. He said:
Reject those who may seek to derail your cause, founding revolutionary aspirations and the Pan-African values of your budding organisation.
As the teaching fraternity, never allow yourselves to be used as tools by our country’s detractors in their divisive and subversive activities. Always remain patriotic and loyal to our country.
Informed by this relationship, our ZANU PF Party must remain closely connected with the education sector and the teaching fraternity immersed in the Party.
We must never again allow any challenges or differences we may face as a people, to separate these two institutions.
The teachers, some of whom went through ZANU PF’s Herbert Chitepo school of ideology openly expressed their support for Mnangagwa’s re-election bid in 2023.
Chiwenga also spoke at the event and denied reports that there was factionalism in ZANU PF. He said:
When you go back home, please tell those misguided souls that we have only one candidate and that’s our guest of honour (Mnangagwa).