Continued detention of arrested students challenged in High Court

By Lance Guma
28 February 2006

Lawyers representing six student leaders arrested on Monday for leading a demonstration against tuition fee hikes at the University of Zimbabwe have approached the High Court seeking their urgent release. Tafadzwa Mugabe a lawyer with the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) says the continued detention without charge of his clients was illegal. He has filed an urgent chamber application in the High Court and says they might get an audience with a judge even after hours Tuesday evening. The court application also cites the fact that two of the detained students Sande and Mahohoma need urgent medical attention following brutal assaults by the riot police during the arrests and they have so far been denied this.

The police have since charged the students under section 19 of the Public Order and Security Act accusing them of gathering in a manner conducive to rioting or public disorder. Washington Katema, Mfundo Mlilo, Wellington Mahohoma, Collen Chibango, Tineyi Sande and one Chitekwe were arrested following a planned demonstration inside the campus which coincided with the opening of the new term. Katema who heads the Zimbabwe National Students Union as president is said to have been held in isolation overnight at Matapi police station in Mbare with concern over his welfare growing. Their lawyer says they have since been moved back to Harare Central and he spoke to them inside the offices of the police law and order section. Immediately after that meeting the students were herded back to the cells by police officers and effectively condemned to a second day in detention.

In another story highlighting just how bad the plight of students is, IRIN news agency reports that increasing travel costs are forcing most of them to stay home because they can’t raise the fares to travel to school. Most are attending lessons once or twice a week depending on how much money they have. The Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers Union (PTUZ), Raymond Majongwe is quoted by IRIN as saying ‘classes are empty, in most cases we find ourselves having to teach only a fraction of the whole class after students fail to turn up. It is a sad development that is unfolding at national level that should be addressed as a matter of urgency.’ The PTUZ are said to have petitioned the government to enforce a law that will compel minibus operators to charge pupils half the normal rate.

The spokesperson for the MDC, Nelson Chamisa condemned government’s policy on education. He told Newsreel in an interview that the state is abdicating its responsibility to fund education and is trying to dump the burden on parents who are already struggling to make ends meet. The problems at the colleges reflect the general rot that has beset the country and according to Chamisa an overhaul of the entire government is the only way to solve the problem.