By James Gwati- The ongoing strike by University of Zimbabwe (UZ) lecturers has dealt a major blow to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, exposing its failure to address the longstanding grievances of academic staff and forcing it into a belated response.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba acknowledged the legitimacy of the lecturers’ demands, a rare admission that signals mounting pressure on the government.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter) under his handle Jamwanda, Charamba revealed that Mnangagwa, who is the Chancellor of all state universities, had long approved a plan to improve lecturers’ conditions — but its implementation was stalled by bureaucratic inertia.
“YOU HAVE BEEN HEARD!!! Government is addressing the welfare of university lecturers. Just as well they raised the matter publicly,” Charamba wrote. “It turns out the Chancellor, Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa, had long approved recommendations which should have put this matter well behind us. Inertia gathered somewhere, and the OPC [Office of the President and Cabinet] will cause movement. Thank you comrades for acting responsibly!”
Charamba’s remarks followed growing unrest at UZ, where members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) have suspended lectures and vowed to escalate the strike to all 14 state universities within 10 days if their demands are not met.
AUT is demanding a restoration of salaries to pre-October 2018 levels, when a junior lecturer earned approximately US$2,250.
Today, they take home as little as US$230, a steep decline that has crippled their ability to survive amid Zimbabwe’s deepening economic crisis.
Professor Obvious Vengeyi, the AUT spokesperson, told New Zimbabwe that UZ management has consistently refused to engage in dialogue with lecturers, leaving them with no option but to down tools.
The frustration boiled over when Professor Vengeyi and two colleagues were arrested on campus two weeks ago for staging a peaceful protest.
They were detained overnight and fined US$15 each before being released.
Following the arrests, the lecturers secured a High Court order barring police from interfering with their protests.
In response, they declared a two-day suspension of all lectures last week, intensifying pressure on both the university administration and the government.
This crisis reflects a broader pattern of neglect and underfunding in Zimbabwe’s higher education sector, where university lecturers across the country have battled declining salaries, worsening working conditions, and lack of institutional support for over a decade.
During the Government of National Unity (2009–2013), lecturers’ salaries were stabilized, often pegged in U.S. dollars, offering a brief respite.
However, following the introduction of the local RTGS dollar and the collapse of parity with the U.S. dollar in 2019, academic salaries were severely eroded.
Despite repeated promises by successive ministers of higher and tertiary education, and by Mnangagwa himself, conditions have continued to deteriorate.
Many experienced academics have either emigrated or left academia altogether, creating a brain drain that threatens the quality of education in Zimbabwe.
Those who remain often moonlight in private institutions or take on consultancy work to supplement their incomes.
The current strike at UZ is not an isolated act of defiance, but part of a larger wave of discontent across the public sector, where teachers, nurses, and civil servants have also protested stagnant wages and deteriorating standards of living.
The lecturers’ bold action has publicly embarrassed the Mnangagwa administration, highlighting its failure to prioritize education despite repeated rhetoric about modernization and innovation.