Staff Reporter

Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union (ZICOSU) has chided its rival, the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) for threatening to shut down all State universities on 9 May 2022 in protest over alleged fees hike.

In a statement on Monday this week, ZINASU threatened to force the closure of universities until the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Amon Murwira, addresses the issue of fees hikes.

In an interview yesterday, ZICOSU president Pijiwest Nhamburo said that as much as the university fees were a bit high, there was need for a proper dialogue involving all stakeholders instead of staging demonstrations.

“This (demonstrations) has become a norm from the ZINASU outfit to try and cause confusion within the academic space towards the beginning of every academic space calendar. We know the challenges our stakeholders are facing and we have long since approached the relevant authorities with regards to some of the issues and progress is being made,” said Nhamburo.

Nhamburo added that unlike ZINASU, ZICOSU was an orderly student body that airs its grievances in a procedural manner without engaging in violence or disruption of learning. He added that ZICOSU was not part of hooligans and it will be ready to defend institutions of higher learning from saboteurs.

“Our stance and reaction is very clear as per the message we went to our structures. We are not part of hooligans and as such, we are there to ensure that our institutions are conducive for our students by all means necessary,” added Nhamburo.

Meanwhile, there are reports that ZINASU is being used by some opposition political parties to instigate acts of violence and lawless in the country.

Efforts to get a comment from ZINASU spokesperson Donald Marevanhema were futile as his mobile phones were not reachable.