• LUZWE Njovu, one of the students admitted to the University Teaching Hospital after he allegedly tried to jump from a moving police vehicle. His parents allege Njovu was brutalised by police. Picture By SYLVESTER MWALE.

By SYLVESTER MWALE –
THE trademark reaction of UNZA students of averting their anger on innocent people’s property every time they are aggrieved is beyond comprehension for any sane human being.
Much as the students are aggrieved with the delayed meal allowance, the use of violence and other form of thuggish acts against innocent people does not justify their concerns.
Lest they need a reminder, this is a university where those enrolled are expected to be intellectuals with great negotiating skills of resolving their problems rather than behaving like ruffians in Chibolya township.
It is not an exaggeration of fact to state that the much-craved for about meal allowance is drawn from tax payers whose vehicles have been damaged every time UNZA students have protested for whatever reason.
It could be noted, against this background that although the protests by the students fall within their democratic rights, they are carried irrationally with a little sense of responsibility by those involved.
Like the past demonstrations, the recent protests on 14th November were characterised by unruly behaviour where students thought stoning vehicles on the Great East Road would be the best solution to get their delayed meal allowances.
“I don’t sympathise with the students because there was no cause for them to demonstrate,” said University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU) vice president Martin Nundwe.
“The protest was as a result of miscommunication between the bursaries committee and the students.”
However, much as the students misbehaved during the protests, there has been a widespread concern on how the police officers who went to quell the protests conducted their business.
The officers were accused of burning one of the hostels at the institution as well as brutalising and torturing some students who were apprehended during the riots.
A number of students were injured in the fracas as they jumped from the third floor of their hostels through the window after officers started firing teargas canisters in their rooms.
Some received treatment at University Teaching Hospital (UTH) while others are said to have been treated at Levy Mwanawasa Hospital.
The Human Rights Commission (HRC) says preliminary findings of its investigations have revealed that the police used excessive force on the students.
HRC director Florence Chibwesha said the commission was concerned with the manner police dealt with the protesting students and the continued acts of malicious damage on private citizens by the students during protests.
“The Commission condemns these acts by the police in the strongest terms,” Ms Chibwesha said.
Lizwe Ndlovu, a 19-year-old second year student studying Development Studies and Economics, was one of the victims of police brutality and is currently receiving treatment at UTH.
Interestingly, there are two contradicting accounts on what caused the serious injuries to Mr Ndlovu. Police claim he jumped out of a moving vehicle as he was being driven to an unnamed police station for detention after being apprehended.
“As you know that these students were rioting, they were throwing stones and damaging vehicles and police wanted to restore order,” said police spokesperson Charity Munganga Chanda.
“We have arrested nine; eight of those are in police custody (they have since appeared in court), while the other one is in UTH after he injured himself as he jumped off from our moving vehicle.”
Ms Chanda’s account contradicts Lizwe’s family’s and that of other students who witnessed the November 14 night showdown between police and students.
Lizwe’s mother, Rosaria Ndlovu, said her son did not participate in the protest and could therefore not be among those arrested.
“What is really surprising is that my son cannot participate in the protest for allowances since he is a self-sponsored student,” she said. “He was picked up when he was trying to help another student who had fainted from the teargas.”
Like Ms Ndlovu, students at the university condemned the action by the police officers and wondered why they followed the students to their hostels to fire teargas canisters.
“It was bad, because officers were entering rooms and fishing out students after firing the teargas canisters in the rooms,” said one of the students in Soweto Hostel, where two rooms were completely burnt apparently by a missile fired by officers.
The Soweto Hostel is about one kilometre away from the Great East Road, which has acted as a battle ground between officers and students in the past protests.
“I cannot lie, many protests have ended up with the stoning of people’s cars on the Great East Road, and not breaking our own hostels,” added the student who asked to remain anonymous.
“So there is no way students can burn their own hostels, it was the police that fired a flare which landed on one of the beds in the rooms through the window before everything was on fire.”
Police spokesperson Ms Chanda says investigations have been launched to establish the real cause of the fire but has fallen short to state on whether there are any officers being investigated in connection with Lizwe’s injuries.
Someone would, therefore, be forgiven for concluding that police officers’ reaction to the protests was just as bad as the students’ protests which resulted into the stoning of people’s cars.
UNZASU vice president said the officers acted unprofessional by breaking into students’ hostels to fire teargas canisters and fish out students.
“The police were very unprofessional in their conduct; they agitated the situation because we think they should remain at the Great East Road instead of following students in their hostel,” Mr Nundwe said, adding: “Much as I don’t sympathise with students (for protesting), the police have caused the damage; we have a number of casualties because as we are talking, one of our students is seriously injured at UTH.”
A second year UNZA female student, who is studying Public Administration, and witnessed the arrest of Lizwe, said her friend was subjected to severe beating by officers after being arrested.
She said during the protest, some students including Lizwe went to rescue her from the room and took her to the clinic for medication after she had asthma attack following the teargas.
The accusations about police brutality on Lizwe have been strengthened by the manner in which his admission to UTH has been handled by both the police and the UTH.
The admission to G02 surgical ward of Lizwe appears to have been shrouded into secrecy with hospital authorities gagging the media despite the national interest that the case has generated.
The Sunday Times visited the country’s biggest referral hospital with the view of seeing Lizwe after securing an appointment with UTH spokesperson Mwenya Mulenga on November 15 afternoon.
However, Mr Mulenga later told the Sunday Times upon arrival at UTH that he had received strict instructions that no journalist should visit Lizwe. Since then, journalists have visited Lizwe undercover.
Lizwe’s mother is even pessimistic with the police’s account of events because of the behaviour.
“On Saturday at midnight (15 November), some mystery man who called himself a student from UNZA came to visit Lizwe then when we asked him further questions, he changed that he was a police officer,” she said.
She wondered why a police officer could come in disguise.
It is clear that the recent protest by UNZA students has generated debates on the rationale behind the protest at UNZA and the methods employed by police to stop it.
Two wrongs do not make a right! Therefore, while the students have no justification for their senseless damage of private and public property in their push for meal allowances, the police officers should equally account for the damage caused to students’ hostel and injuries to Lizwe.
Much as it is appreciated that the police are investigating the cause of the fire at the students’ hostels, it will only in the interest of justice that officers who arrested the students be probed and arrested if it is found that they acted with inappropriate force.
Unless that is done, it will be hard for Lizwe’s family to accept that justice has prevailed, especially with the shielding of journalists from visiting him at his hospital bed.