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Student activists arrested at NUST . . . as police launch manhunt for more
Students Solidarity Trust
October 09, 2007

Police in Bulawayo have arrested two student activists in a swoop on a students general meeting this morning. Themba Maphenduka and Vananceo Jachi are currently in police custody, and a manhunt has been launched as police and security details seek to arrest Langalihle Manyani, the Vice-President of the Students Christian Movement of Zimbabwe (SCMZ) and Cynthia Manjoro, who recently completed her internship with the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).

Another student Samson Nxumalo has been injured, and needs medical attention

Speaking in a telephone interview from Bulawayo, the lawyer representing the students, Esther Sarimani from Coghlan and Welsh, acting on behalf of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, has intimated that she has been denied access to her clients, and has no knowledge of the charges being preferred against the two.

Instead the police have told Sarimani to come back after an hour because they want to arrest more students, who they believe are about to go on another strike action. The lawyer actually witnessed the police details driving off to manhunt other students.

The demonstration at the National University of Science and Technology was informed by the accommodation crisis spawning at the college. Students had hoped to impress on the administration to address their plight, but to no avail.

Currently NUST has a capacity to accommodate 102 students, 34 female students and 50 male students. NUST has a total enrolment of 3 500 students. Students contend that they are being charged in excess of Z$25 million (USD833 - at the official rate) per semester for space. And more often than not, 3 or more students share the room.

The accommodation crisis means that students are faced with mounting transport problems. The SST witnessed the transport problems over the weekend, some students learn during the weekends and the stampede students engage in as they hussle for transport illustrated the transport crisis, which can be worse during normal working hours.

The students at NUST are also resisting the excessive late registration fees of Z$60 000 a day (USD2 - at the official rate) per day, and some students have accumulated debts amounting to Z$1 million (USD34 - at the official rate). It is a fact that due to the current economic woes bedeviling the country, parents and guardians are finding it difficult to pay the tuition fees on time, which is Z$10 000 000. 00 (USD334 - at the official rate)

The students also allege that they are being tutored to by lecturers with first degrees, some have even graduated from the less decorated Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU).

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