Seven arrested as riot police disrupt university student’s campaign rally
By Lance Guma
26 April 2006
There was drama at the University of Zimbabwe on Monday when truckloads of riot police disrupted a campaign rally for student representative council elections. Armed with baton sticks and accompanied by police dogs they entered Swinton Hall on campus ordering everyone out of the building while firing teargas. The outgoing Vice President Colleen Chibango defied the directives and continued addressing students. Police pushed him off the podium before beating him up with baton sticks. Chibango, still nursing head injuries, spoke to Newsreel from Harare Central police station where they were being held on Tuesday.
‘I’m used to being beaten up in other parts of my body, but when you have a baton stick hitting your head, it really is damaging,’ he said. Chibango, Mfundo Mlilo, Garikai Kajau, Abisha Dube, Wellington Mahohoma, Zwelithini Viki and Hentchel Mavuma spent Monday evening at Avondale Police station before the Law and Order section of the police requested they be transferred to Harare Central. According to Chibango the University authorities say they cannot hold campaign rallies in the evenings but should instead have them between 4 and 5pm. Chibango dismissed this as frivolous because all campaign rallies in the past have been held in the evening. ‘Most students are still in lectures between 4-5pm while others will be eating in the canteen.’
The students were only released late Tuesday following intervention by their lawyer Dumisani Nkomo. He spent the day in frantic negotiations to ascertain what the charges were but Chibango says the police seemed to be struggling to come up with any. The university will be conducting Students Representative Council elections on Thursday. The presidency is contested this week while the other minor posts are up for grabs next week. Chibango argues that authorities on campus are eager to block leading candidate Abisha Dube from conducting any successful campaigns. Dube he says has an intimidating track record in terms of participating in demonstrations and they are not comfortable about him taking over the presidency.
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