Bob, cabinet a ‘group of corrupt thieves’

Zimbabwe’s students union threatened to stage demonstrations across the country in protest over continued corruption in government.

Harare - Students under the banner of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) have threatened to stage demonstrations at all the country’s institutions of higher learning in protest over continued corruption in government.

In a statement on Tuesday, ZINASU said President Robert Mugabe and his cabinet were a group of corrupt thieves who had presided over the plundering of the country’s resources such as diamonds.

“As a means to ensure that the government takes care of our needs and stops prioritising corruption over education, ZINASU will lead a national day of action across campuses as a means to knock on the doors of conscience of the chancellor President Robert Mugabe,” the union said.

The students said the decisions being made by the present government were a liability for students and the youth in the country.

“The ‘disappearance’ of US$15 billion diamonds money is just but one of the major tendencies of Zimbabwe’s pathetic and failed state presided over by thieves, robbers masquerading as a president and cabinet. In fact, it is the glory of Robert Mugabe’s over three-decade long presidency,” the union said in a statement on Tuesday.

The students’ union said it was disturbing that the government could fail to account for money that was four times more than the country’s budget, saying the Ministry of Finance should not have committed a lot of money to the security sector when they could not guard the country’s natural resources.

The Zanu PF government, ZINASU said, had implemented toxic policies that had eroded all the gains of independence, leaving the country’s citizens as economic slaves.

“Modern day slaves are not in chains but are in debt, Zimbabwe is extremely in debt. Clandestine hostile takeover of companies, sale of blood diamonds and murdering of civilians seeking livelihoods opportunities in resource rich areas are all unorthodox strategies used by the government for use for short term contestation of power and habitual externalisation of our minerals, but has lasting destructive results,” the union said.

The student’s union said the country had lost a development opportunity as a result of state-facilitated illicit financial outflows which had degenerated into a failed state status.

African News Agency