Staff Writer
HARARE – Newly uncovered documents reveal that the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)—long presented as the foremost independent critic of Robert Mugabe’s government—secretly received state funding for its operations throughout much of the 1990s, an investigation by Gemnation shows.
The contradiction between its public posture and financial dependency comes to light in a 1995 letter from then-Secretary-General Morgan Tsvangirai, informing members that government support had been abruptly withdrawn.
“We regret to inform you that Government of Zimbabwe have suspended all forms of supporting ZCTU including funding our structures and operations with immediate effect,” Tsvangirai wrote on 13 November 1995.
He suggested the move was politically motivated, aimed at weakening the union’s ability to hold the state accountable.
This funding arrangement casts a new light on the ZCTU’s fierce public opposition to key government policies of the era.
In a 1999 letter, Tsvangirai launched a scathing attack on the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP), predicting economic collapse and warning of secret ZANU-PF plans to seize businesses and commercial farms.
Further documents indicate that, despite its adversarial public stance, the ZCTU also collaborated with the state on major national initiatives.
In an October 1998 letter, Tsvangirai confirmed an agreement with the government to draft a new constitution through the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) before the 2000 elections—a process that ultimately never materialized.
The revelations raise pointed questions about the consistency of the union’s independence and its dual role as both a beneficiary and critic of the ruling party.
Critics now suggest a pattern of contradictory conduct persists under the current ZCTU leadership. President Florence Taruvinga and Secretary-General Japhet Moyo have publicly opposed government policies while simultaneously participating in state-led delegations, such as the International Labour Organization conference in Geneva in June 2023, where they traveled alongside then-Labour Minister Paul Mavima.
The documents undermine the ZCTU’s historic narrative as a purely independent workers’ movement and prompt a re-examination of its political and financial relationships—both past and present.
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