Students pay a heavy price for activism, but there is hope

On 9 April, the Great Zimbabwe University suspended a student for two semesters for posting “disparaging remarks” against the university management, and allegedly inciting other students on a WhatsApp group.

The disciplinary action taken against Darlington Matola followed after he advocated against students having to make mandatory payments towards medical aid. He has also been critical of the university’s administration and management on the Students Barracks WhatsApp group.

Earlier this year, Midlands State University (MSU) instituted punitive measures against five students whom they accused of recruiting others to join an unregistered organisation.

Four of the students, Nester Moyo, Tanaka Sibanda, Fanuel Gona and Keegan Mathe, were suspended for three semesters, while a fifth, Takunda Mhuka, was expelled following hearings held between 12 and 21 March. This came after the five students had already been suspended for weeks pending the hearings.

Public universities in Zimbabwe have a long history of suspending or expelling student activists, especially those belonging to the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU), the biggest student union in the country.

The authorities contend that the five students misused their authority as student ambassadors to recruit students at MSU to an unregistered organisation called the Students Revolutionary Council. This is according to university documents seen by University World News that were used against the students in the hearings.

ZINASU disputes this and says the students were recruiting members on its behalf. In fact, ZINASU’s spokesperson, Lifeline Guta, says there is no organisation called the Students Revolutionary Council on the MSU campus. “They [the MSU] want to solidify their charges by claiming the students in question were recruiting for an unregistered organisation, but the students were recruiting for ZINASU, which is a well-known and recognised students’ union.”

In a photo used by the MSU as evidence in the hearings, the five students can be seen wearing blue ZINASU T-shirts following their recruitment exercise. All the students who were suspended or expelled are active members of ZINASU, according to Guta.

The students were charged with contravening Section 12.30.1 of the Rules of Student Conduct and Discipline Ordinance 2 of 2014, which prohibits “engaging in any conduct whether on or off the campus which is or is reasonably likely to be harmful to the pecuniary, reputational or other interests of the university, members of staff or students”.

Takunda Mhuka, the only student out of the five who was expelled, was further charged with publicising his suspension letter: “... The accused person [Mhuka] posted his official letter of suspension on [a] social network and allowed third parties to do the same, with the intention to harm the University,” reads part of the proctor’s outline in the case.

When asked for comment, the registrar’s office at MSU, which handed the five students their suspension letters, declined to do so and directed University World News to the university’s marketing department, which then also did not respond to questions sent to the e-mail address provided by the deputy registrar.

A humble background

Mhuka, a human resources student, told University World News his background from an underdeveloped community motivated him to become an activist. “My unemployed parents struggle so much to raise enough [money for university fees].”

They are subsistence farmers who sell surplus crops to help pay for his studies.

“I was only able to access tertiary learning after I was enrolled under the WorkForFees programme where I would work for the university and, in return, they would pay a percentage of my fees,” Mhuka said. “This is the primary reason why I joined student activism. I understand that education must be unconditionally available to all, including those who are underprivileged, like me.”

Under the WorkForFees programme, Mhuka was employed by the department of agriculture before he was expelled. This meant cleaning pig sties, milking cows and working the fields, among other things. While he found the programme to be valuable, it was not easy to balance the work with his studies. Now he has neither, while he awaits a possible court case where he hopes to challenge his expulsion and the outcome of the disciplinary hearing.

“I have now joined the endless queues of unemployed youths of Zimbabwe, going from office to office, looking for a job in Harare using my O and A level certificates,” Mhuka told University World News. He is also trying to earn money in the informal sector, “but nothing is working out, so far”.

He has received counselling from an organisation called the Counselling Services Unit and claims to be coping well, despite feeling “very disappointed” and “provoked” by “the regime in Harare”. “I feel we [the five students] never deserved this injustice.”

Political tool

Commenting on the MSU case, Pride Mkono, a former president of ZINASU who was, himself, once expelled from the University of Zimbabwe, told University World News that suspending or expelling student activists from universities is often politically motivated. “Let me first say that politically motivated suspensions or expulsions are part of the strategies employed by authoritarian regimes like [Zimbabwean President Emmerson] Mnangagwa’s to suppress student activism and academic freedom.” This is made possible by the laws which govern universities, Mkono said.

He said many of these laws give vice-chancellors and university administrations total power to police tertiary institutions: “In addition to that, there are various internal statutes which provide for wide-ranging and arbitrary powers for authorities to suspend and expel students without meaningful due procedure.” He noted that the president of Zimbabwe is ex officio the chancellor of all state universities and that this gives “political impetus to political persecution of student activists who are seen as anti-government”.

Mkono said this “cocktail of repressive strategies” makes it virtually impossible for a student to be suspended or expelled from one institution and enrol at another. “In fact, if you are expelled or suspended, then you are [in effect] blacklisted from pursuing any higher education in Zimbabwe.”

But not all hope is lost for students who are suspended or expelled for their activism, Mkono believes. “Humanitarian interventions” are available to assist students who find themselves in such situations. “There are programmes like Students at Risk (StAR) offered by Norway, in collaboration with SAIH [the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund], various government departments and national universities,” said Mkono. “I am a beneficiary of this programme, and it provides that all-important chance for persecuted activists to complete their education.”

Mkono is currently pursuing higher education under the StAR scholarship in Norway. When he was expelled from the University of Zimbabwe, he was busy with a degree in sociology.

Selma Matsdotter Bratberg, president of SAIH, said her organisation advocated for the establishment of the StAR scholarship because there was a gap in mechanisms for protecting human rights defenders. “Although good protection mechanisms for human rights defenders were in place, we saw that they failed to meet the specific need of student activists to complete or continue their education. That’s what led us to advocate for the Students at Risk programme.”

She said, as is the case with other important civil society actors, “student activists – both on and off campus – are often putting themselves at significant risk”. She said they face repression, threats and physical violence. “And they are often denied education,” she added.

Since the first students arrived for the StAR scholarship in 2015, about 150 students from 26 countries have been through the programme in Norway, Bratberg said. “Students at Risk is more than just a scholarship scheme, it’s a unique protection mechanism for young human rights defenders working for freedom and democracy in their home countries.”

The scholarship covers travel to and from Norway, including visa expenses, and a moderate stipend for living costs while in Norway.