WOZA protests break out in Harare as Bulawayo detainees released

By Lance Guma
08 May 2006

There seems to be no stopping the defiant Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA). A few hours after the majority of their members were released from police custody in Bulawayo, hundreds more of their members including school children began another demonstration in Harare. At least 104 protesters spent the weekend in Bulawayo jails after 185 of them were arrested Thursday last week. WOZA is currently leading demonstrations against 1000 percent school fee increases.

At the time of broadcast there had been no arrests during the Harare protest. The women marched to the offices of the Minister of Education Aneas Chigwedere at about lunchtime and put forward their demand for a reversal of the new fee structures. According to the new Education Amendment Bill school fees will be pegged according to the consumer-pricing index as set by the Central Statistical Office. With inflation running rampant the situation for most parents is set to get worse.

Jenni Williams the WOZA coordinator told Newsreel upon her release from custody in Bulawayo that the fee increases affected many people in Zimbabwe and not just women. Children could not go to school and this is why they are taking part in the protests she explained. She says government raised fees without consulting anyone. ‘How can they just give kids invoices demanding Z$5 million when previously they were paying Z$500 000,’ she said. The decision to raise fees does not make sense to WOZA especially in the light of an unemployment rate of over 80 percent. Williams says the government could have at least consulted the various School Development Associations (SDA’s) before raising the fees.

The WOZA leader also disclosed that she has received three death threats from a senior police officer who according to his fellow staff members is known for being mentally unstable. She is taking the threats seriously but says this will not deter her and the group from fighting for social justice in the country.

NB: Don’t miss Behind the Headlines this week as Lance Guma speaks to Jenni Williams about the school fee protests and her experiences in police custody.