Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Felix Share
11 November 2009
Harare — SLUM landlords have moved into Mount Pleasant crowding desperate students of the University of Zimbabwe into rooms of former family homes and building wooden cabins around the walls.
Students unable to find suitably priced accommodation elsewhere or not willing to travel by bus to the campus every day are taking these lodgings.
The university did not open the halls of residence this semester in compliance with the City of Harare Health Department's order to close them until water supplies were restored. The university started receiving water in September, but the residences are yet to be reopened.
UZ spokesperson Mrs Ruby Magosvongwe said yesterday erratic water supplies were hampering the reopening of the halls of residence.
"Though we started receiving water about a month ago, the supplies are not enough to cater for all the students who will be staying in the hostels," said Mrs Magosvongwe.
In Maxwell Street in Mount Pleasant, 68 students both male and female share a house, while about 70 share a house along Churchill Avenue in the same suburb.
There is also a church that accommodates more than 100 students in the same suburb. Fifty-six students share a house in Mendel Street, Avondale.
"We have no option but to continue like this until we finish our studies. There are more than 80 of us at this house and if you leave anything unattended for a few minutes, it will be stolen.
"When you wash your clothes, you have to make sure you do not leave them until they are dry," said one student who requested anonymity for fear of victimisation from the landlord.
About 20 students share a guestroom in the main house and there are 11 illegal wooden cabins, which house more than 45 students. Most house owners collect between US$20 and US$40 in rentals a month from each student.
"These landlords are making a killing from the students' predicament. Our landlord collects over US$3 200 every month, as there are more than 80 students each paying US$30," said one of the students.
The accommodation problem is said to be affecting the performance of many students with others complaining they were being restricted by their landlords on when lights in their rooms should be switched off.
Others, however, said they could not study at the campus in the evening as their landlords insisted on locking their gates at any time they felt like.
Students pleaded with Government to facilitate the reopening of closed residential halls by engaging the responsible authorities.
"It is the Government's responsibility to ensure that tertiary students get alternative and affordable accommodation. They must ensure that we get decent accommodation," said one of the affected students.
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