The President of Zimbabwe declared every first Friday of the month as a day to clean up our streets from physical litter. The campaign has not been embraced by many citizens who view this as an exercise in futility.
The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, ARTUZ posits that if Zmbabwe’s public finances and resources are well managed then local authorities will have capacity to clean the streets of the physical litter. Zimbabwe will not need to dedicate a day of carrying brooms.
The physical litter we see on the streets are a reflection of the rot in State institutions. Cleaning up state institutions will also help to enhance social service delivery including healthcare, water provision, Education and housing among others.
It is against this background that the ARTUZ seeks to observe every first Friday of the month as a #CleanUpZimbabwe day.
Under the campaign citizens are mobilised to participate in lobby and advocacy initiatives aimed at “cleaning up” of state institutions. The institutions have to be cleaned up of corruption, incompetence, bias, nepotism and capture.
The campaign is necessitated by the collapse of the education sector which was caused by the rot in state institutions. If state institutions are cleaned of the rot then Zimbabwe will have capacity to pay teachers decent salaries and provide inclusive quality education. This campaign therefore feeds into the running #SaveOurEducationZw campaign.
Objectives
- To organise citizens to collectively demand accountability from state institutions.
- To pile pressure on state institutions to become more efficiently on their mandates.
The campaign will target identified state institutions weekly. The campaign will be launched on Friday 1 April 2022 targeting the following institutions;
- Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council, ZIMSEC: What went wrong with public examinations, examiners protesting and are still to be paid, outsourcing printing services when institution received support to secure in House printing facilities, results still to be published and the
- Continous learning activities chaos among other challenges.
- Public Service Commission/ Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare, why are teachers being suspended for demanding a living wage? When will our laws be aligned to the constitution. Teacher salaries and conditions of service are worrisome.
- Treasury: What happened to funding for Social services?
- ZUPCO: Learners, teachers and citizens are struggling to travel. What is the root cause for the public transport crisis?
Activities
Online lobby and advocacy campaign
Citizens are invited to share their experiences and further identify the root causes of the rot at the four institutions and share on social media using #CleanUpZimbabwe #FightBackFriday Use of videos and pictures is encouraged.
Online dialogue
A twitter space will be hosted to raise awareness on the root causes of the challenges bedevilling the 4 target institutions.
Physical clean up
A symbolic physical clean up exercise will be conducted by volunteers who will be carrying banners highlighting the crisis in the 4 target institutions.
Conclusion
The campaign is set to unite, agitate and enhance the capacity of citizens to pile pressure on state institutions to deliver services.
Source: ARTUZ
