By STAFF REPORTER

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has strongly opposed the proposed Municipal Police and Courts Bill, warning that the legislation could criminalise poverty, fuel corruption, and expose millions of informal workers to harassment and abuse.

In a statement issued by ZCTU Secretary General Tirivanhu Marimo, the labour body urged the Government and Parliament to halt the Bill's progression, arguing that it would create parallel policing structures with sweeping powers of arrest and prosecution while doing little to address the country's deep-rooted economic challenges.

The proposed legislation, recently approved by Cabinet, seeks to establish municipal police services with powers to arrest offenders and municipal courts to deal with by-law violations, traffic offences, and other minor infractions.

However, the ZCTU said the Bill represents "a dangerous shift towards the militarisation and criminalisation of urban livelihoods," particularly at a time when the majority of Zimbabweans rely on the informal economy for survival.

According to the labour body, more than 85 percent of Zimbabwe's workforce earns a living in the informal sector, with vendors, cross-border traders, transport operators, and small-scale entrepreneurs sustaining households amid prolonged economic hardship.

"The informal economy exists largely out of economic necessity rather than deliberate lawlessness," Marimo said. "Vendors and micro-traders are not criminals. They are citizens trying to survive under extremely difficult economic conditions."

The ZCTU warned that granting municipal officers powers of arrest, investigation, and prosecution without strong independent oversight could increase incidents of arbitrary arrests, confiscation of goods, extortion, and corruption.

The organisation also questioned the impartiality of the proposed municipal courts, arguing that local authorities would effectively become the law-makers, arresting authorities, prosecutors, and beneficiaries of fines, creating a conflict of interest that could undermine citizens' constitutional rights to a fair hearing.

Instead of expanding policing powers, the ZCTU called on Government to adopt a human-centred approach to urban management by investing in properly serviced vending sites, affordable market infrastructure, and social protection programmes for informal workers.

The labour federation also proposed a broad national dialogue involving Government, local authorities, vendor organisations, trade unions, and civil society to develop inclusive urban management policies that balance order with the protection of livelihoods.

​“An all stakeholders dialogue including vendor unions, the labour movement, civil society and central government needs to be convened to discuss meaningful inclusive urban management policies. There is need to maintain a unified, accountable national law-enforcement standard subject to constitutional checks and balances, rather than creating fragmented, unmonitored municipal police forces. ​It is our firm conviction that municipal by-laws must be reviewed in line with the obtaining political economy to facilitate formalisation through incentives, simplified registration, and fair licensing rather than arrests and prosecutions,” reads the statement.

In addition, the ZCTU urged authorities to explore opportunities presented by Zimbabwe's night-time economy, arguing that extended economic activity in sectors such as hospitality, tourism, entertainment, transport, and retail could generate employment and stimulate urban growth.

The labour body maintained that sustainable urban management should focus on creating economic opportunities rather than criminalising citizens forced into informality by economic circumstances.

The proposed Municipal Police and Courts Bill is expected to be tabled before Parliament for debate, where lawmakers will decide whether to adopt, amend, or reject the legislation.