Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe Secretary General Raymond Majongwe said Tuesday that he has received anonymous threatening phone calls after reports aired Monday on state media that his union is giving radios to members so they can receive announcements of a future uprising from independent radio stations.
Police and security agents in Masvingo Province recently confiscated donated radios from PTUZ members, prompting the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to seek the restoration of the radios through the courts. A Gokwe magistrate ordered the police must return the radios, but sources close to the matter said they have not done so.
Majongwe said there is nothing wrong with his union giving radios its members, noting that President Robert Mugabe has similarly donated computers to schools.
Majongwe told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that threats will not discourage him from providing union members with radios to receive news.