More than 200 lecturers at Zimbabwe’s University of Zimbabwe joined students Monday in a protest against stagnant wages, deepening a three-month-long strike.
This unrest unfolds amid soaring inflation topping 90 percent, ravaging the southern African nation’s fragile economy.
Clad in academic robes, lecturers waved placards and danced outside the university gates in Harare, demanding a salary increase to $2,500 monthly.
The amount matches their 2018 pay before Zimbabwe’s currency devaluation wiped out their earnings’ value.
Union representative Obvious Vengeyi dismissed the government’s offer of a 20 percent pay rise for lecturers and 35 percent for the vice-chancellor as insufficient and unfair.
“The very people responsible for this mess have been rewarded,” Vengeyi said, underscoring staff frustration.
Classes remain suspended, exams cancelled, and the academic calendar thrown into uncertainty.
“Since April 16, we haven’t learned,” said Wadzanai Rupuwu, a 22-year-old international relations student who missed her exams amid the disruption.
The university employs roughly 1,200 lecturers and has hired temporary staff to fill gaps, but students reject these replacements, questioning their experience.
Student leader Darlington Chingwena condemned the move: “Our future has been stolen.”
Zimbabwe, recovering from hyperinflation under Robert Mugabe, introduced a gold-backed currency in 2024 to stabilise its fragile economy.
Yet the strike reveals lingering economic pain and a growing rift between academic staff, students, and authorities in the nation’s capital.
