ILO denies funding demos

By The NewsDay | Apr. 1, 2015 | 1 Min read

The International Labour Organisaton does not fund workers’ or any other demonstrations in its member countries, a senior official has said.

The International Labour Organisaton (ILO) does not fund workers’ or any other demonstrations in its member countries, a senior official has said.

BY Christopher Mahove

ILO spokesperson for Zimbabwe Maria Mutandwa yesterday dismissed as untrue recent claims by a columnist in a government-owned newspaper that the organisation was bankrolling planned demonstrations organized by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the main opposition MDC-T.

“That is absolutely not true. We do not channel that kind of money. I don’t know where this Tafara Shumba got his information from. I don’t know anything about this Africa Solidarity Fund that he is talking about.

“I am sure that you also know that (Wellington) Chibebe is not with the ILO as suggested in the article. It means that whoever gave him that information must have gotten it from the wrong person,” she said.

She said the ILO was a tripartite organisation which worked with the ZCTU, the government through the Ministry of Labour and the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe.

Herald correspondent Shumba claimed in his article published yesterday that the ZCTU was working with the MDC-T to stage demonstrations funded by the ILO.

Shumba further claimed that former ZCTU secretary-general Wellington Chibebe was now with the ILO and directing the incumbent secretary-general, Japhet Moyo, on the way the demonstrations should be held.