University of Zimbabwe authorities were yesterday pressured to reopen the institution after ordering an urgent closure due to a riotous situation that was threatening to blow out of control.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
Vice-Chancellor Professor Levi Nyagura released a statement urging all resident students to return to their halls of residence after they had been ordered out the previous day.
“I am happy to advise that urgent issues that needed urgent attention have now been resolved. Consequently, lectures resumed today 18 March 2015 at 0800 hours,” Nyagura said.
“Resident students should return to their hostels immediately and attend lectures as usual. The University of Zimbabwe wishes to thank the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development [Oppah Muchinguri] for her timely intervention to address the urgent issues.”
The letter came at a time hundreds of students had spent the night stranded on the streets after they were ejected from the main campus.
Zimbabwe National Students’ Union president Gilbert Mutubuki, however, said the decision was not beneficial to the students as lecturers had not returned to work.
“Lecturers are not there and there is no learning taking place because they have not been given their money. We have advised the students to remain out of campus because of the heavy police presence as well as the fact that since university staff is not back at work there will be no food,” Mutubuki said.
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He said anti-riot police remained camped at the university although they were not barring students from entering the institution. “We are now working to engage the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development to see how best we can resolve the matter,” he said.
Reports also said there were no lectures at Midlands State University and Great Zimbabwe University, while just a few lecturers turned up for duty at the National University of Science and Technology.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights yesterday welcomed the authorities’ gesture of reopening the institution, but said they could face huge liabilities if students decided to sue.
Lawyer Gift Mtisi said although it would be difficult for the students to prove their expenses due to their numbers and the low cost as compared to the cost of engaging lawyers, it was possible for foreign students to sue for claim of rights.
