Zim marks Migrants Day

ZIMBABWE’s draft labour migration policy and its action plan are in the last stages of approval, a senior Government official has said.

In a speech read on his behalf during International Migrants Day in Harare on Tuesday, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare Mr Ngoni Masoka said Government was already implementing some of the activities on labour migration.

“The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare warmly welcomes the envisaged creation of the migration directorate within Government as this will greatly improve coordination of migration issues.

“The Government shares the commitment and calls for renewed global commitment towards the plight of migrants given our firm belief that the human rights framework, which is often neglected in the migration discourse, should be the centre piece of the envisaged global impact on migration,” he said.

Mr Masoka said the Zimbabwe Government has always been helping fellow brothers and sisters from different African countries to build their lives at the Tongogara Refugee Camp, where close to 10 000 refugees are housed.

International Organisation for Migration Chief of Mission Ms Lily Sanya said Zimbabweans in the Diaspora estimated to be about 3 million, in 2016 remitted approximately $1,8 billion, contributing at least 15 percent to the national Gross Domestic Product. She said there is need for combined efforts to tackle international migration challenges.

“The challenges and difficulties of international migration require enhanced cooperation and collective action among countries and regions to maximise the positive impacts of migration while lessening the adverse impact,” she said.

International Migrants Day is celebrated on December 18. The day was set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2000 with the aim of making sure migrants are treated humanely and fairly despite their situations. CHITUNGWIZA Municipality workers have clashed with their unions, accusing them of robbing them by collecting membership fees from council without their knowledge.

The affected unions are Zimbabwe Urban Councils Workers Union (ZUCWU), Zimbabwe Rural and Urban Council Workers’ Union (ZRUCWU) and Water and Allied Workers’ Union (WAWU).

The unions also allegedly agreed with council management to halve the worker’s salaries without consulting them.

The workers said they did not know the union’s leadership and they last conducted meaningful meetings with them in 2013, during the days of one Matsikidze and Reverend Ephraim Katsina as leaders.

“We were shocked when we started seeing half salaries being deposited into our accounts and on enquiring we were told that was what we agreed with our union leaders,” said the employees. “We do not recognise the existence of any union since we last had genuine leadership in 2013. “We do not have any representation.” ZRUWCU chairman, Mr William Makoto, said they never met with management or the caretaker commission on the issue of salaries.

“We never agreed with management on the issue of salaries and we did not have a hand in it,” he said. “It was done through the commission and we never met them to agree on the issue. However, since there are three unions, maybe the workers you spoke to belong to the other two.

ZUWUC vice chairman Mr Nyika Nyika also professed ignorance on the agreement on salaries.