HARARE, Apr.16 (NewsDayLive)- Police heavy-handedness was on display once again when they crushed a demonstration by University of Zimbabwe (UZ) lecturers and arrested their leaders on Wednesday morning.
The arrested Association of University Teachers (AUT) leaders are Borncase Mwakorera, Obvious Vengeyi and Desmond Ndedzu who were taken to Avondale Police Station.
The small group of brave lecturers had picketed at their workplace demanding a salary review from university authorities.
The university educators who fall under AUT are demanding that their salaries be raised to the pre-October 2018 level when a junior lecturer was earning US$2500.
The arrests came even after AUT leaders had sought police and university authorities' permission to go on strike.
AUT legal adviser Munyaradzi Gwisai said the police insisted that the picketing was ulawful.
“In terms of the law it is clear that the labour law allows registered trade unions to authorise a picket as long as the strike is lawful and this is exactly what happened,” Gwisai said.
“It is a registered union and it authorises a picket and the university was advised and they refused to have the picket in their premises hence it was done outside….the police complicit with university authorities want to suppress a lawful and constitutional strike.”
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This is the second time in as many weeks that the lecturers called for a strike after the first attempt was stopped by the parent ministry.
After the setback, the AUT leaders had to go back to the drawing board and restrategise, leading to their suspension and subsequent clashes with police.
A lecturer, who refused to be identified for fear of victimisation, said what irked the lecturers the most was that Higher and Tertiary Education minister, Fredrick Shava, came to the institution of higher learning and promised them regional salaries.
“The Higher and Tertiary Education minister Fredrick Shava came to UZ after hearing through outspoken veteran Blessed Geza's press conference that lecturers are earning the salary of garden boys,” the lecturer said.
“That’s when the minister promised to pay us salaries equivalent to our regional peers.”
Another lecturer said the salary he was earning had reduced his dignity in society.
He said: “Imagine to go to work, I need US$250 for fuel which is my salary, so what do I eat, feed my family with yet I have three degrees, plus more than 40 publications?”
UZ lecturers are earning US$300 and a ZiG component not exceeding US$200 when converted, yet a professor used to earn US$5000.
UZ vice-chancellor Paul Mapfumo could not be reached for comment.
