Speaking
last
week,
Charamba
acknowledged
that
the
lecturers’
grievances
were
“genuine”.
In
an
update
on
Monday,
he
said
that
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
had
“long
approved”
a
proposal
to
resolve
the
crisis
at
the
University
of
Zimbabwe
(UZ),
but
blamed
unnamed
officials
for
delaying
its
implementation.
YOU
HAVE
BEEN
HEARD!!!
Government
is
addressing
the
welfare
of
University
Lecturers.
Just
as
well
they
raised
the
matter
publicly.
It
turns
out
the
Chancellor,
Dr
E.D.
Mnangagwa,
had
long
approved
recommendations
which
should
have
put
this
matter
well
behind
us.
Inertia
gathered
somewhere
and
OPC
will
cause
movement.
Thank
you
Comrades
for
acting
responsibly!
This
comes
after
the
Association
of
University
Teachers
(AUT)
has
threatened
to
expand
industrial
action
to
all
14
state
universities
within
the
next
10
days
unless
the
University
of
Zimbabwe
(UZ)
and
the
government
address
their
concerns
over
inadequate
wages.
The
AUT
is
demanding
that
the
government
and
UZ
restore
lecturers’
salaries
to
their
levels
before
October
2018,
when
a
junior
lecturer
earned
US$2,250,
before
the
pay
was
drastically
reduced
to
US$230.
AUT
spokesperson,
Professor
Obvious
Vengeyi,
told
New
Zimbabwe
that
the
UZ
administration
has
been
refusing
to
engage
with
lecturers.
The
week
before
last,
Professor
Vengeyi
and
two
of
his
colleagues
were
arrested
at
the
University
of
Zimbabwe
for
protesting
against
poor
wages.
They
were
released
after
spending
a
night
in
police
custody
and
each
paying
a
fine
of
US$15.
The
lecturers
subsequently
obtained
a
High
Court
order
preventing
the
police
from
interfering
with
their
peaceful
protest.
As
a
result,
they
decided
to
suspend
all
lectures
on
Thursday
and
Friday
last
week.