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Written by Jelena
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Monday, 26 October 2009 14:09 |
JOHANNESBURG – Zimbabwean students studying at a South African university claim that Zimbabwe secret service agents are harassing and victimising students aligned to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party. The students, who came to Fort Hare University (FHU) on a scholarship fund started by President Robert Mugabe a few years ago, claim that a number of them have been stripped of the scholarships because of their affiliation to the MDC, the former main opposition that formed a coalition government with Mugabe’s ZANU PF party last February. They allege that some students have received death threats and the intimidation intensified after MDC branches were launched at the FHU’s East London and Alice campuses last month.
MDC secretary-general at the Alice campus Vitalis Mubayira said a dozen students have so far lost their scholarships as punishment for being members of the MDC.
“We have been political victims since we made our position clear by supporting the MDC. The situation got worse when we officially launched the MDC branch in September,” Mubayira said, adding: “There is not a single ZANU PF aligned student that has lost their scholarship.”
The students blame the pro-Mugabe Zimbabwe spy Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and a Zimbabwean lecturer teaching at FHU for informing Harare about their political activities.
But FHU spokesperson Minenzima Vusani denied that the students lost their scholarships because of their political affiliation, saying the affected students had violated a clause in the scholarship programme which specifies that they should “not be involved in any political activity in a foreign country”.
Vusani said the condition applied to any political activism whether involving South African politics or not.
“This condition, among others, is a cornerstone of the programme since 1995 when it began at the university and it has been emphasised to new and old students to maintain cohesion and oneness among beneficiaries and to protect the image and integrity of our institution,” he said.
The FHU spokesperson said the Zimbabwean government was responsible for the termination of scholarships.
“They were given the scholarship by ZANU PF under the name of Mugabe and recruited under the banner of ZANU PF,” said Vusani.
The Fort Hare Presidential Scholarship Fund, launched with the help of FHU, is in honour of the Zimbabwean President, who studied at the famous South African university.
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JOHANNESBURG – Zimbabwean students studying at a South African university claim that Zimbabwe secret service agents are harassing and victimising students aligned to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party.