News / National
UZ suspends union leaders, again
08 May 2025 at 09:45hrs | Views
The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) has reignited tensions with its academic staff after issuing fresh suspension letters to leaders of the Association of University Teachers (AUT), just days after lifting their initial suspensions. The move has further deepened a months-long standoff that has paralysed operations at the country's premier institution of higher learning.
The five-member AUT executive, including outspoken spokesperson Obvious Vengai and legal adviser Munyaradzi Gwisai, were served with new suspension notices on May 5, 2025, over allegations that they used the university's Great Hall without permission, thereby allegedly disrupting academic activities.
"It is the University of Zimbabwe case that on April 2, 2025, you used the Great Hall to conduct a balloting process for members of AUT over a proposal to engage in collective job action . . . the Great Hall is used for lectures by students and on the day in question, it was scheduled to host a Chinese language lecture," reads the letter signed by UZ Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo.
Invoking section 4.4.2 of the university's Employment Code of Conduct, Mapfumo announced that the lecturers were being suspended without salary and benefits, effective May 6, pending disciplinary hearings set for May 13 and 14.
This comes just 11 days after the university lifted earlier suspensions imposed on April 4 — a move that AUT members have described as arbitrary, vindictive, and procedurally flawed.
"You cannot suspend someone and, without a hearing, lift the suspension — only to suspend them again on virtually the same allegations," Vengai told reporters. "It confirms that the vice-chancellor does not follow laid-down procedures. He does as he likes."
The AUT leadership believes the disciplinary actions are part of a deliberate strategy to intimidate and punish lecturers for organising an ongoing strike that began on April 16, effectively grinding university operations to a halt.
The root of the impasse lies in long-standing salary grievances. AUT members are demanding a return to pre-October 2018 salary levels of US$2,500 per month. Currently, university lecturers earn around US$230 plus a ZiG component equivalent to less than US$200 — far below their cost-of-living expectations.
The standoff has drawn widespread concern from students, education watchdogs, and labour rights groups, many of whom view the administration's approach as heavy-handed and detrimental to academic freedom and staff morale.
As UZ braces for the disciplinary hearings next week, uncertainty looms over whether classes will resume any time soon, or if the deepening crisis will trigger broader unrest across the country's higher education sector.
AUT says the outcome of the hearings could shape the future of industrial relations at Zimbabwe's universities.
"Any minute we may receive letters lifting the suspensions again," Vengai said sarcastically. "That's how unpredictable the situation has become."
The five-member AUT executive, including outspoken spokesperson Obvious Vengai and legal adviser Munyaradzi Gwisai, were served with new suspension notices on May 5, 2025, over allegations that they used the university's Great Hall without permission, thereby allegedly disrupting academic activities.
"It is the University of Zimbabwe case that on April 2, 2025, you used the Great Hall to conduct a balloting process for members of AUT over a proposal to engage in collective job action . . . the Great Hall is used for lectures by students and on the day in question, it was scheduled to host a Chinese language lecture," reads the letter signed by UZ Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo.
Invoking section 4.4.2 of the university's Employment Code of Conduct, Mapfumo announced that the lecturers were being suspended without salary and benefits, effective May 6, pending disciplinary hearings set for May 13 and 14.
This comes just 11 days after the university lifted earlier suspensions imposed on April 4 — a move that AUT members have described as arbitrary, vindictive, and procedurally flawed.
"You cannot suspend someone and, without a hearing, lift the suspension — only to suspend them again on virtually the same allegations," Vengai told reporters. "It confirms that the vice-chancellor does not follow laid-down procedures. He does as he likes."
The root of the impasse lies in long-standing salary grievances. AUT members are demanding a return to pre-October 2018 salary levels of US$2,500 per month. Currently, university lecturers earn around US$230 plus a ZiG component equivalent to less than US$200 — far below their cost-of-living expectations.
The standoff has drawn widespread concern from students, education watchdogs, and labour rights groups, many of whom view the administration's approach as heavy-handed and detrimental to academic freedom and staff morale.
As UZ braces for the disciplinary hearings next week, uncertainty looms over whether classes will resume any time soon, or if the deepening crisis will trigger broader unrest across the country's higher education sector.
AUT says the outcome of the hearings could shape the future of industrial relations at Zimbabwe's universities.
"Any minute we may receive letters lifting the suspensions again," Vengai said sarcastically. "That's how unpredictable the situation has become."
Source - newsday
