UZ graduation proceeds amid 'retrogressive' strike

University of Zimbabwe (UZ) Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo has labelled striking academics from the Association of University Teachers (AUT) as "retrogressive," a day after the High Court dismissed an AUT application to halt today's graduation ceremony presided over by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

AUT first approached the court on 9 August seeking to stop the university's 44th graduation, withdrew the case, and refiled it on 13 August before proceeding yesterday. The court dismissed the matter.

The ceremony took place under a cloud of controversy, with the protracted lecturers' strike - now in its fourth month - having disrupted examinations, dissertation supervision, and other academic activities. The strike began on 16 April over poor working conditions and low salaries.

Lecturers are demanding US$2,250 per month to restore their pre-2018 salary levels, compared to the current basic minimum of about US$230. They argue the graduation should have been postponed due to academic disruptions and alleged institutional malpractice, including the hiring of unqualified part-time lecturers, sub-standard teaching methods, compromised examination invigilation, and poor dissertation supervision - actions they say constitute "grave and unprecedented violations" of university statutes and amount to academic fraud.

Addressing the graduands in the presence of President Mnangagwa, Professor Mapfumo vowed to continue implementing his contested educational "transformation agenda" despite what he described as sustained attacks against him and his administration.