The workers’ rights champion

For almost 40 years, Godfrey Kanyenze has advocated for worker’s rights in Zimbabwe. That choice comes with a certain occupational hazard.

Godfrey Kanyenze has been accused of being a George Soros agent and named and shamed in the ruling party ZANU PF’s magazine and in government-controlled national newspapers. He has had friends and colleagues arrested and considers being harassed an occupational hazard. In Zimbabwe, researching and advocating worker’s rights comes with a risk.

A certain risk comes with the territory, but in his case, it has mostly been a scare-mongering tactic.

-You simply have to consider it an occupational hazard in my line of work. Normally they just intend to scare you by naming you in newspapers and the like, he says.

Kanyenze is no doubt in an exposed position. But his status as a researcher gives him protection - to the extent that he is now actually advising the government on policies that can strengthen the economy and the job market.

Work that empowers
Kanyenze was ‘lured’ into the world of economics by one of Africa’s greatest development economists, Guy Mhone, first as a student at the University of Zimbabwe, then later when Mhone encouraged him to apply for a job as a statistician with the Central Statistical Office. Later he joined the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), and this came to be a decision he has never regretted.

-Trade unions are unique in the way that the work never gets boring. You feel that the work you do is appreciated, and you see in practice how it empowers people. That’s why you cannot compare this to any other job, says Kanyenze. 

In 2003, he founded the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ), a research think tank of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), where he is now director.

He also works as an external consultant for the International Labour Organisation (ILO,) assisting governments in developing macroeconomic frameworks where employment and job creation play central roles. 

A milestone for workers’ rights
Despite sometimes challenging conditions, the struggle for workers’ rights in Zimbabwe stands out internationally for a remarkable achievement: The unions in Zimbabwe brought their case to the ILO, as the first in the world. They had had enough of their members being targeted and arrested. In 2009, ILO instigated a fact-finding mission in Zimbabwe after the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions reported on the gross violations of workers’ rights. The fact-finding mission ended with a harsh report on the conditions in Zimbabwe, criticising the government for failing to implement the freedom of association.

-This basically made Zimbabwe a pariah state, says Kanyenze.

In a push to clear their name, the government accepted the recommendations from ILO.

-The government is working hard on managing their image.

Kanyenze describes a fascinating yet challenging context for rights advocacy in Zimbabwe.

-We are in an interesting space where I find myself being both careful and calculating. In initiating the current structural dialogue, the government has put their integrity at play. They hear a constant whisper from the African Development Bank: ‘You must behave’, he says.

He stresses that the government is acutely aware that all the numbers are going in the wrong direction. 87 % of the work force in Zimbabwe works in the informal sector. 43 % of Zimbabweans live in extreme poverty. 21 % of youth are unemployed. The exchange rate is a disaster, and farmers are now relying on hand outs.

-There is a certain degree of paranoia as financial problems are piling up. If their latest experiment from April, when they introduced a new currency, doesn’t work, they are finished. They may have killed the opposition, but they fear a spark among the people and fear Kenyan conditions with unrest and uprisings, says Kanyenze while stressing that the fact that the government does not feel in total control is good for LEDRIZ and likeminded actors as it forces government officials to listen to advice.

 Pressure from outside
After their initial fact-finding mission, ILO followed up on the situation for workers’ rights in Zimbabwe. They even trained police and security forces on the topic. Still, Kanyenze warns the international community not to let their focus stray away from Zimbabwe just yet.

 -Donors are getting tired of Zimbabwe. Countries and conflicts elsewhere, like Israel/Palestine and the war in Ukraine are getting all the attention. The EU has removed the sanctions that were in place, and the USA has lifted people off their sanctions list. Zimbabwe is no longer the talk of the town, says Kanyenze.

The effect of the ILO training was not immediate, neither was it lasting. Union representatives still get arrested

-This dwindling attention has given the government an opportunity to yet again tighten the grip, he says.

Providing actionable research
Kanyenze clearly has a deeply rooted engagement for workers’ rights. He is the first to admit that what LEDRIZ does is not apolitical.

 -What we do is not neutral. We may not protest in the streets, but what we do empowers the workers. We set out to educate, says Kanyenze.

But LEDRIZ works strategically and takes pride in providing actionable knowledge. Their work stands on three pillars: Research and analysis, sensitisation, and training. And the approach seems to be effective. According to Kanyenze, ZANU PF are not worried about the work of technocrats like himself and his colleagues. In fact, the government has reached out to Kanyenze and LEDRIZ. If they are to get anywhere on their way to clean their name and reach their goals for the national economy, they clearly need help. And as the unions are not interested in any dialogue with the government, Kanyenze has also acted as a mediator between the two parties. But pushing for strengthening workers’ rights is rarely straightforward in Zimbabwe.

-The government recognises that we can help them reach their goals for the economy, yet at the same time they continue interrogating people like me. That’s’ the contradiction we face, he says.

Yet, despite the challenges, Kanyenze argues that workers’ rights advocates like himself are in a better place at the moment. The government is their own worst enemy with internal fighting, but it is this internal tension that provides protection for Kanyenze and the likes of him.

- The government is not homogenous. If the security authorities threaten me the Ministry of Labour has my back. They do not want to get in any further trouble with ILO, he says.

But, he stresses, the security forces continue arresting union representatives. So where does he get his staying power from, the urge and conviction to be so unrelenting? What gives Kanyenze extra protection is his role as director of a think tank that provides solid research and analysis. And despite the feeling that his work sometimes takes one step forward and two steps back, and decades in the ‘business’ he is not fatigued.

-Once you are in this space, you feed from the energy it gives you.