https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/2025/05/21/uz-arrogance-is-threatening-to-destroy-zimbabwes-higher-education/ *_PLEASE SHARE_* *UZ arrogance is threatening to destroy Zimbabwe’s higher education* _BY Tendai Ruben Mbofana_ *WHEN those who educate a nation are punished, the future of that nation is at grave risk.* In a stunning display of state arrogance and institutional decay, the University of Zimbabwe (UZ)—once a citadel of intellectual excellence—has chosen to punish its lecturers for demanding fair remuneration instead of addressing their legitimate concerns. After two months of a crippling strike by academic staff demanding a return to their pre-2019 salaries of US$2,500, the university has now issued a chilling directive: faculty deans must prepare to replace striking lecturers with so-called “external experts.” This is not an idle threat. Evidence has already emerged that UZ has begun the process of replacing its striking lecturers with adjunct staff. One such appointment letter, dated May 2025, shows the university offering new hires a paltry rate of US$3.30 an hour—amounting to under US$200 a month, barely above the starvation wages the striking staff are already rejecting. Even more concerning, this replacement practice violates Section 108(5) of Zimbabwe’s Labour Act, which clearly prohibits the hiring of new employees to replace workers engaged in a lawful strike. *_To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08_* In simpler terms, President Mnangagwa’s government is attempting to fire those whose only crime is asking to be treated with dignity—and doing so illegally. What makes this move not only draconian but absurd is the fact that lecturers at the UZ—Zimbabwe’s oldest and most prestigious university—are currently earning just over US$200 in hard currency, supplemented by the unreliable Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency. This is a fraction of what they earned before the reintroduction of the local currency in 2019, and nowhere near enough to survive, let alone live with the honor befitting professionals responsible for shaping future doctors, engineers, lawyers, and teachers. To respond to this grievance by threatening dismissal and outsourcing the nation’s intellectual duties to unvetted outsiders is not only a betrayal of the teaching profession but also a declaration of war against the very idea of education itself. Where exactly do the authorities think they will find lecturers and professors willing to work for a mere US$200 a month? Zimbabweans are not fools—we know no credible academic will agree to such exploitation. Anyone qualified enough to teach at university level will not degrade themselves to near-volunteer labor. Are we now to recruit lecturers from the same pool of job-seekers desperate enough to do anything to survive, even if they are barely qualified to teach? Are we going to see the lecture halls of UZ reduced to the same tragic state as our rural primary and secondary schools—staffed by untrained temporary teachers, who are themselves victims of a broken education system? That’s the very direction this government seems determined to take us. Our public schools, especially in rural areas, have become zones of despair, where even basic infrastructure is missing. Teachers live in squalid conditions, sometimes walking long distances to work, with no access to potable water, electricity, or decent housing. They teach in classrooms without chalk, without books, without desks, without science labs. And now, in their infinite wisdom, the authorities want to replicate that disaster in our once-esteemed universities. UZ is being dragged down the same failed path—not due to lack of talent or commitment, but simply because the government refuses to pay living wages or invest in proper educational infrastructure. This short-sighted and vengeful decision will further degrade the already plummeting quality of education at UZ. It is no secret that the university’s reputation has been declining. In the latest 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, UZ was placed in the 1201–1500 range globally, and ranked 49th in Africa. These are not just numbers—they reflect the lived reality of deteriorating standards, frustrated academics, and underprepared graduates. By threatening to replace striking lecturers instead of addressing the causes of the strike, the government is digging an even deeper grave for higher education in Zimbabwe. Lecturers and professors are not asking for extravagance. They are asking for the basic respect owed to those who train the very professionals this country desperately needs. We cannot build a modern, prosperous Zimbabwe without doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers, and scientists. And we cannot produce any of those without committed, well-supported university lecturers. To devalue these nation-builders is to sabotage our future. If we lose them to hunger, emigration, or despair, we lose the country itself. This crisis is starkly evident when compared to salaries of university lecturers in the region. While Zimbabwean lecturers earn barely over US$200 monthly, their counterparts in Botswana receive between US$1,200 and US$2,500 per month, with senior academics earning even more. In South Africa, monthly salaries range from approximately US$2,500 to US$3,200 depending on rank and discipline, while Zambia and Malawi offer similarly more competitive remuneration, typically between US$1,000 and US$1,800. The contrast is glaring, and it underscores how Zimbabwe is failing to retain intellectual capital because it refuses to pay living wages or properly fund education. Yet, the same state that claims it cannot afford to pay lecturers US$2,500 a month has no problem awarding grossly inflated public contracts worth millions of dollars to dubious individuals under opaque and often corrupt circumstances. Roads are paid for, yet never tarred. Clinics are budgeted, yet never built. Millions vanish into thin air through schemes wrapped in technical language and complex paperwork—but all clearly designed to enrich the connected few. There is always money for political patronage, elite allowances, expensive cars, and chartered flights. This includes the continuous procurement of luxury presidential vehicles, such as the Maybach S680 Pullman Guard, reportedly costing over US$1.5 million, and a recently acquired Rolls Royce equipped with advanced ballistic protection and security features. While lecturers struggle to survive on paltry wages, the presidency lives in ostentatious privilege, sending a clear message about where this government’s priorities lie. This crisis cannot be seen in isolation. It is a reflection of the rot that now defines the Mnangagwa regime—an administration obsessed with optics, slogans, and repression, while basic governance collapses all around. The situation at UZ mirrors broader patterns in Zimbabwe: workers’ pleas are ignored, professionals are devalued, and the elite live in a bubble of privilege shielded by power. What should alarm every Zimbabwean is not just the plight of the lecturers, but what their absence portends for the country’s future. If those tasked with educating our youth are fleeing or being fired, who will produce the skilled workforce needed to revive this ailing economy? Zimbabwe has long suffered from brain drain, but we now face a new, more sinister stage: brain extermination. What remains of our intellectual capital is being suffocated by a regime more interested in silencing dissent than fostering solutions. This is the same government that shamelessly celebrates “Research, Innovation, and Industrialisation” while starving the very people whose research and innovation it relies upon. It is a cruel irony that speaks volumes about the disconnection between official rhetoric and lived reality. Once upon a time, the University of Zimbabwe was a beacon across the continent. It produced leaders, scientists, and thinkers who helped build not only Zimbabwe but Africa at large. That legacy is now being trampled underfoot by short-sighted administrators and a ruling elite that sees knowledge not as a national asset but as a threat to power. By choosing to crack the whip rather than open dialogue, the Mnangagwa government is sending a clear message: those who question us—whether they be journalists, activists, or lecturers—must be punished, not heard. The silence of parliament on this matter is telling. So too is the absence of support from Vice Chancellors at other universities, many of whom fear retaliation if they speak out. Yet this silence is complicity. If this strike ends with lecturers being fired and replaced, a dangerous precedent will be set—one that could see every form of worker resistance in Zimbabwe criminalized or rendered meaningless. The lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe are not asking for luxury—they are asking for survival. They are not staging a political stunt—they are demanding respect. And if this government cannot or will not give them that, then it is not just the lecturers who should be removed. It is the entire system that views educators as expendable, and education as optional. *_● Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: [email protected], or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/_*