The two giant political parties in Zimbabwe are seen most of the time vying for youth support in most of their projects, hence student bodies are forced to align themselves to certain political parties for funding and other benefits.
Not surprising as most would think, it is well known that these giant political parties have their puppets running politics for them at Universities under the SRC.
No wonder the UMDC rally set for the 1st of march is said to feature "motivational" speeches from student bodies.
 |
| UMDC poster ( poster adapted from whatsapp profile picture" |
This is seen by most students as an infringement on the SRC's sense of autonomy as a student body.
As it is there is an ongoing strike to which some students think its quite a noble idea for these politicians to show youths in Universities that they really matter by intervening and offering help.
Throughout Zimbabwe’s 35 years of democracy, students have functioned as an episodic oppositional force. They have periodically demonstrated against the government’s policies which they view as violating their freedom and dignity.
At times they demonstrated in solidarity with whichever group had grievances against the government but most of the time, they demand the improvement of their own conditions as students.
This
included constantly checking the environment so as to ensure their
employment prospects. They in fact occupy significant political space
and yet their ultimate aim appears to be the carving out of a desirable
future for the university’s educated.
In a country where the government is highly suspicious of its people, it should try by all means to ensure good relations with its people and try by all means to engage the future leaders by making sure the rights of the people are not deliberately trampled on.
It is therefore up to the students to critique as it is not ideal for
students to be represented by a person who has "other duties" which are
not in tune with the students he/she represents.
No comments:
Post a Comment