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Zimbabwean
students, demystifying the mythical sanctions
Students Solidarity Trust
March 02, 2011
When the Khmer Rouge
under Pol Pot ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, a reign of terror
was unlished resulting in the death of 21% of Cambodia's population.
Urban dwellers were relocated to the rural areas to work in collectives
as Pol Pot attempted to reinvent civilisation from year 0. As utopian
and impossible as this sounded, Cambodia lost millions in a four-year
orgy of state-sponsored violence and experiments sanctioned from
the very top. A major target of Pol Pot's killing fields were
students and academics as they were suspected to be the hub for
any dissent. On flimsy grounds, many were killed and brutality on
the population continued unabated by a regime whose mindset and
criminal intent was sadly costly to the world. Cambodia's
people lived under sanctions for a four years not imposed by anyone
but their own heartless leadership.
As Zimbabwe's president
Robert Mugabe celebrated 87 years of age and his party ZANU PF stumbles
to 31 years in power on April 18, all is not well for students and
academics. Paranoid by the possible emergence of new brooms at Munhumutapa
and all other government offices, ZANU PF has stepped up its assault
on academic freedoms, making sure that the academic factories, colleges
and universities do not function. Students are now also being singled
out to pay the penalty for harbouring ideas different to those of
"the revolutionary party". Of the 45 arrested and charged
with treason for attending the ISO organised discussion are 10 students.
Welcome Zimuto, Prolific Mataruse, Trevor Chamba, Willie Hlatshwayo,
Ian Muteto, Pride Mukono, Tinashe Chisaira, Trust Munyama, Peter
Garanewako and Tashinga Mudzengi stand accused of treason for having
attended the meeting. They are now being sanctioned by the state
because of their belief that open discussions on issues such as
those happening in the Middle East and North Africa have lessons
for Zimbabwe.
For about 10 years now,
ZANU PF's mantra has been that of sanctions and their "deleterious"
effect on the country. Correspondingly, in those 10 years Zimbabwean
students have borne the brunt of ZANU PF sanctions as education
standards have deteriorated. Along with many Zimbabweans whose livelihoods
have been under attack due to poorly thought out policies, the education
sector saw withdrawal of funding in preference for defense, withdrawal
of the loans and grants system and a crack-down on student activists
fighting for academic freedom. As the sanctions hymn continues to
be repeated by the state-controlled print and electronic media,
Zimbabweans have been put under more severe sanctions by a ruthless
and brutal security sector under the directions of the "revolutionary
party". As the leadership's appetite to travel and squander
Zimbabwean tax-payer dollars in western capitals as shown by the
cramped up jostle to travel to United Nations events, they have
reciprocated by making it difficult for Zimbabweans to merely survive.
Students still find it difficult to complete their education due
to punitive fees and a ministry whose primary task now seems to
be to stand in the way of any progress.
On 19 May 2005,
an estimated 700 000 people were displaced from their urban dwelling
in an operation cynically code-named Murambatsvina.
A large student population could not continue with school due to
this untimely and barbaric displacement. For four years now, the
biggest university in the country, University
of Zimbabwe's halls of residence have been closed to students.
This has given rise to many vices such as prostitution and petty
crime as students try to make ends meet. Infrastructure in many
institutions of learning is now dilapidated with the ministry looking
on and saying nothing. Quality of education continues to go down
with the ministry only able to pick fights with other ministers
trying to help.
The sanctions on Zimbabweans
by ZANU PF enforced by the security sector are far much worse than
a list of a couple of hundred being denied the luxury to waste Zimbabwe's
resources. Instead of sulking and clamoring for an opportunity to
visit the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Élysée, Italy's
Pizza parlours and the expensive Harrods, the debate should include
sanctions that have raised unemployment to more than 80%, deterioration
of infrastructure in health and education, looting of resources
and stifling of dissenting voices.
That the "sanctions"
are hurting Mugabe and his cabal is apparently becoming clear looking
at all the efforts being put to force for the removal of these sanctions.
Due to heightening propaganda around this subject the people of
Zimbabwe have been made to believe that they are suffering because
of the so called illegal sanctions. If this was true then everyone
is supposed to be suffering including those on the list of the sanctions.
The whole has nothing to do with the people but it is about greedy
individuals who had ransacked the economy and brought it to its
knees. At some point in our history Rhodesia under the Smith regime
was put under sanctions and the Smith regime never complained about
the sanctions hurting the people. Blaming everything on the sanctions
is cheap politicking that will not get us out of this mess, neither
is forcing people to sign an anti-sanctions petition going to help.
Visit the Students
Solidarity Trust fact
sheet
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