Back to Index

Striking Zimbabwe university students threaten more violent protests
ZimOnline
February 17, 2006

http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=11630

BULAWAYO - Thousands of students at the state-owned University of Zimbabwe Medical School in Harare and at Bulawayo Polytechnic yesterday boycotted classes over recently hiked fees, while national student leaders warned they were mobilising for more violent protests over fees in coming weeks.

Already 21 students from the government's National University of Science and Technology (NUST) are being held by the police after they were arrested during violent protest at the university on Wednesday this week.

Lawyers representing the students say they expect them to be brought to court to answer charges of malicious injury to property after they allegedly stoned buildings, breaking window panes and destroying property during the protest.

Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) co-ordinating committee spokesman Mfundo Mlilo said students would not be deterred by the arrest of their colleagues at NUST. He said more protests at the more than a dozen state universities and technical colleges countrywide were being planned unless the government reversed its decision to hike fees by more 100 percent.

He told ZimOnline: "Expect jambanja (chaos) next week. We are not going to accept all this nonsense. We are calling for class boycotts and we are going on a national mobilisation exercise and if necessary we will initiate nation-wide protests."

Mlilo said protests were so far limited to NUST, the UZ Medical School and Bulawayo polytechnic because these were the only ones open at the moment. More protests at other colleges will take place once they open, most of them next week.

Apart from raised tuition fees, students at state universities and other tertiary institutions - most of them derelict after years of under-funding and mismanagement - are also protesting against low stipends and falling standards at the institutions.

Protests by hungry students and underpaid lecturers at Zimbabwe's universities and technical colleges have become routine because the cash-strapped Harare government does not have money to run the schools.

Zimbabwe's education and the health sectors were for many years the envy of many in the developing world but have now crumbled after six years of a severe economic recession.

Meanwhile, the 192 women arrested by police in Harare while protesting against the government on Valentine's Day were yesterday released from custody after paying admission of guilt fines, one of their lawyers said.

The women, most of them members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise activist group had refused to pay the fine wanting to go to court to prove their innocence but had to finally relent after police kept on delaying taking them to court.

One of the women's lawyers, Tafadzwa Mugabe, said: "The women wanted to go to court but the police were delaying in preparing the court documentation so the women opted for a fine."

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena was not immediately available for comment on the matter. - ZimOnline

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP