University of Zimbabwe lecturers and students unite in triple‑month wage strike

University of Zimbabwe campus, Harare. Photo: The Guardian

Harare, Zimbabwe – More than 200 lecturers at the country’s flagship institution, the University of Zimbabwe, joined forces with students on Monday to intensify a wage protest now in its third month. The action, confirmed by AFP, marks one of Zimbabwe’s longest-running university strikes and reflects growing union frustration amid a crippling cost-of-living crisis that has driven inflation above 90%.

Donning academic gowns and carrying placards with slogans like “Restore our salaries,” the demonstrators danced and chanted outside the main gate. They are demanding a return to pre-2018 wage levels—historically around $2,500 per month for junior lecturers—after their current salary collapsed to about $230 following massive currency devaluation. 

Speaking to the Sudan Times, Obvious Vengeyi who represents the Association of University Teachers (AUT), rejected the government’s offer of a 20% pay increase (35% for the vice-chancellor) as insultingly low.

“The very people responsible for this mess have been rewarded.”

According to The Guardian, classes remain suspended, exams cancelled, and the academic calendar lies in limbo—with one student lamenting, “From the 16th of April to date, we haven’t learned.” The university employs roughly 1,200 academic staff, yet only a tiny fraction remains teaching. TEMP replacements have been widely criticized by students for their inexperience.

The crisis highlights the enduring consequences of Zimbabwe’s chronic inflation and unstable currency, which saw the introduction of the gold-backed ZiG in April 2024. However, wage growth hasn’t kept pace with inflationary pressures.

What comes next?

AUT has obtained High Court protection against police interference, declaring the strike indefinite. They’ve pledged to continue until the government permits a salary adjustment to $2,500/month. Meanwhile, the university has suspended some leaders in hopes of defusing the protest, but student solidarity appears to be strengthening resolve. With inflation still rampant and wages frozen in nominal terms, the strike could escalate further, potentially closing the university for the first time since its founding in 1952. The outcome will impact Zimbabwe’s fragile education system and social stability.