News / National
Unemployed graduates defy police
03 Aug 2016 at 23:38hrs | Views
HARARE - Jobless college graduates today protested over President Robert Mugabe's failure to deliver promised jobs, despite police "discouraging" them from doing so.
The graduates are demanding that 92-year-old Mugabe fulfils his 2013 election campaign promise to create 2,2 million jobs in five years.
The graduates - represented by the Coalition of Unemployed Graduates (CUG) - said they are taking to the streets, in spite of a police letter "discouraging" them.
In a July 25, letter to CUG, officer commanding Harare Central District, one chief superintendent Saunyama N, advised the unemployed graduates to look for other ways to present their grievances.
"This office is however, discouraging the issue of marching in the central business district as it interrupts the smooth flow of both human and vehicular traffic," Saunyama wrote.
"We however, encourage you to pursue other avenues to submit your petition to the relevant authorities rather than engage in marching."
But the adamant graduates said they are even inviting Mugabe, his ministers and parliamentarians to listen to them "as we offer possible solutions to the problems facing the country".
"We are going to go ahead with our planned demonstration, because in our correspondents with the police, they... were vague. They said they were simply discouraging our demonstration and not... denying us that right," CUG representative Samuel Meso told the Daily News yesterday.
The jobless graduates demo coincides with protests over bond notes but Meso said "we are not going to march together . . . . Yes, there is need for a synergy, however in this case we want to march to Parliament to present our solutions to parliamentarians and the president".
This comes as pressure group Tajamuka is leading another demo against government's plan to introduce bond notes, which was cleared yesterday following the High Court's intervention.
Estimates place Zimbabwe's unemployment rate at more than 90 percent as scores of companies have shut down on the back of an economic crisis and unfavourable government policies.
"The playing of football in the CBD was also our creative way of protesting and to show that it's not only those who are uneducated who are unemployed. It's also the graduates. We want everyone to join in these protests from those who have Grade Seven certificates up to those who have PhDs," he said.
The graduates are demanding that 92-year-old Mugabe fulfils his 2013 election campaign promise to create 2,2 million jobs in five years.
The graduates - represented by the Coalition of Unemployed Graduates (CUG) - said they are taking to the streets, in spite of a police letter "discouraging" them.
In a July 25, letter to CUG, officer commanding Harare Central District, one chief superintendent Saunyama N, advised the unemployed graduates to look for other ways to present their grievances.
"This office is however, discouraging the issue of marching in the central business district as it interrupts the smooth flow of both human and vehicular traffic," Saunyama wrote.
"We however, encourage you to pursue other avenues to submit your petition to the relevant authorities rather than engage in marching."
"We are going to go ahead with our planned demonstration, because in our correspondents with the police, they... were vague. They said they were simply discouraging our demonstration and not... denying us that right," CUG representative Samuel Meso told the Daily News yesterday.
The jobless graduates demo coincides with protests over bond notes but Meso said "we are not going to march together . . . . Yes, there is need for a synergy, however in this case we want to march to Parliament to present our solutions to parliamentarians and the president".
This comes as pressure group Tajamuka is leading another demo against government's plan to introduce bond notes, which was cleared yesterday following the High Court's intervention.
Estimates place Zimbabwe's unemployment rate at more than 90 percent as scores of companies have shut down on the back of an economic crisis and unfavourable government policies.
"The playing of football in the CBD was also our creative way of protesting and to show that it's not only those who are uneducated who are unemployed. It's also the graduates. We want everyone to join in these protests from those who have Grade Seven certificates up to those who have PhDs," he said.
Source - DailyNews
