Former Zim student leader held for anti-Mugabe protest
A former student leader was reportedly arrested at a graduation ceremony where President Robert Mugabe was capping thousands of graduates.
|||Harare – A former student leader was on Thursday reportedly arrested at a graduation ceremony at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) where President Robert Mugabe was capping thousands of graduates.
Tonderai Dombo, the immediate past president of the Student Representative Council at the University, was allegedly whisked away by suspected state intelligence agents after he raised a placard at the 92-year-old President who was the Chancellor of all state universities.
“Student leader Tonderai Dombo was arrested today at UZ graduation for raising a placard demanding that the government creates opportunities for youth with unemployment rising above 90 percent,” Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said in a statement posted on their Facebook page.
There were also unconfirmed reports that another student activist, Zibusiso Tshuma, was also taken away by President Mugabe’s security details after calling the President Satan at the same graduation ceremony.
Dombo had earlier vented his frustration on his Facebook page on Wednesday saying those who were graduating would receive a rude awakening as they were still ignorant of the harsh realities of the country’s economic situation.
“The hungry graduates that join the ranks of the unemployed and unemployable youths of Harare amid ululations at the University grounds, come to realize that you can not do much in a country where education has ceased to be a ladder on the social class system. Rather getting a degree will accord you rebukes from societies like mine where a good number of talented scholars have had their dreams to pursue education further killed by the merciless government,” he wrote.
He said the knowledge he had acquired at university had become useless as it failed to transform his life.
“It is against this background of utter hopelessness, distress, anger, frustration, disenchantment and disillusionment, that I pen this graduation message. In as much as I appreciate the knowledge I have gained at the University, what I have learned is that knowledge is not helpful if I don’t use it to empower my society and my nation, that knowledge becomes worthless. Thus I do not AGREE with the concept that “the youth should just learn and wait for opportunities and/or for things to change”.
Both police spokespersons Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi and Senior Assistant Inspector Charity Charamba did not answer their mobile phones and did not respond to questions sent to them.
Unemployed graduates in the country recently staged demonstrations against the government demanding the 2,2 million jobs that were promised during the 2013 general elections.
Some protested by vending in the streets of Harare while clad in their graduation gowns while others took to the streets playing plastic soccer balls to show their frustration.
African News Agency