AMALGAMATED Rural Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president, Obert Masaraure says due to myriad problems facing Zimbabweans, the country can be likened to a case study of what the dead will experience in Gehenna.

According to the Christian Bible, Gehenna refers to a place where both soul and body will be consumed and destroyed in a huge fire.

In his analogy, the trade unionist highlighted the dysfunctionality of the local economy where prices have spiralled out of the reach of ordinary folk, particularly civil servants.

He noted that funeral assurance policy premiums were eroding teachers' salaries, among other challenges bedeviling the general citizenry.

The ARTUZ leader was addressing mourners in Zvimba North, Mashonaland West province where scores gathered over the Easter holiday for the burial of a union member's son.

Masaraure said Zimbabweans from all walks of life were enduring a collapsed health delivery system where hospitals do not have medicines, a non-existent public transportation infrastructure and general malaise.

"Only a few teachers can afford funeral policies from Sahwira Mukuru (Nyaradzo Funeral Assurance). This firm only comes after having deducted from the little teachers earn. A long time ago, you would not feel the pinch, but what makes it look as if their deductions are exorbitant is because they are taking from nothing.

"If you look at Zimbabwe, you would think it is case study by God to show us how we will suffer in the hell called Gehenna. The hardships in this country are too much, from the El Nino which has destroyed crops in the fields, to the El Nino in hospitals without medicines, to El Nino of struggling to get school fees, in the roads there is an El Nino of lack of transport," said Masaraure.

The deceased was a Form 1 male learner, who died after he was run over by a motorist in Mutoko last week.