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Police
disrupt students' meeting
Nqobani
Ndlovu,The Standard (Zimbabwe)
December 03, 2006
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/viewinfo.cfm?linkid=11&id=5385
BULAWAYO —
Zimbabwe National
Students Union (ZINASU) leaders were last week hounded out of
a hotel by Bulawayo police.
The ZINASU leaders
were holding a summit at the Rainbow Hotel on Saturday under the
theme "The year 2006 in retrospect and prognosis for 2007".
The summit ended
abruptly after the police raided the hotel.
Beloved Chiweshe,
the ZINASU secretary-general, confirmed they were forced to abort
their stay at the hotel.
Chiweshe said:
"We had to flee after police threatened to arrest us for not
seeking a police clearance for holding the summit. The summit did
not need any clearance as it was an academic meeting. There was
no need for the police to sanction it."
Under the draconian
Public Order
and Security Act (POSA), people planning to hold a gathering,
are required to obtain police clearance.
Before the raid,
the students had resolved to roll out protests in the event they
were expelled for failing to settle overdue fees.
ZINASU resolved
to force the closure of tertiary institutions and universities if
there was an increase in tuition fees.
Promise Mkhwananzi,
the ZINASU president, said: "We have the capacity to grind
to a halt the education sector if there is a new fee structure.
We have set the tone for nationwide class boycotts as a way of forcing
the government to reverse the fees."
Acting Bulawayo
police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Langa Ndlovu could not
comment on the raid on the students. He referred The Standard to
the chief inspector, Andrew Phiri, who could not be reached.
The raid comes
after the arrest of many student leaders for organising protests
at tertiary institutions against high tuition fees and falling standards.
Recently, five
National
University of Science and Technology leaders were arrested for
leading protests against high tuition costs.
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