DATA analysts Team Pachedu yesterday cancelled their planned mass protests against the Gold Mafia kingpins at the eleventh hour citing lack of stakeholder buy-in.
However, some civil society organisations said they had not been formally approached by Team Pachedu for the mass protests which were scheduled to coincide with Independence Day celebrations today.
On Sunday, Team Pachedu said: “We have been pushing for a peaceful national protest on April 18 in light of the deteriorating socio-economic environment, including the Gold Mafia saga and the unjust continual detention of Job Sikhala. Regrettably, we are calling off due to lack of stakeholders’ consensus.”
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition chairperson Peter Mutasa said: “We are not aware of any discussions around this. We were never approached or consulted around it. So we do not know much about why stakeholders didn’t support it as stated.”
Centre for Natural Resource Governance director Farai Maguwu said the protests could have succeeded if they were organised through established movements.
“I am not privy to who was coordinating, how they consulted and who was consulted. I think the coordination should have occurred through or with established movements such workers unions, student movements, civil society,” he said.
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The demonstrated was planned after an international news channel Al Jazeera released a four-part series documentary which exposed alleged illicit activities by some top government officials, prophets, pastors, as well as businesspeople linked to the ruling elite, and said to be profiting from money laundering and gold smuggling.