Mugabe aides arrest protesting graduand
By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |
President Robert Mugabe’s bodyguards on Thursday took away Tonderai Dombo, the immediate past president of the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) Students Representative Council (SRC) for waving a placard demanding jobs for graduates.
Dombo was among the thousands of former UZ students who Mugabe, chancellor of all State universities, capped at a graduation ceremony on Thursday.
His placard read, “Tipeiwo mabasa”, meaning “Give us jobs”.
It was not immediately clear where the aides took Dombo to.
Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is independently estimated at more than 90 percent and the majority of graduates being churned out by tertiary institutions are struggling to find jobs.
Most industries have closed down and the existing ones are panting for breath due to acute financial constraints.
A recent survey by a vendors’ association indicated that at least 2,000 graduates were full time vendors, peddling such things as cigarettes, second hand clothes and vegetables.
Ahead of the 2013 general elections, Zanu PF promised to create some two million jobs, but more have been lost since then. Nehanda Radio
