7
HB 129-16
HC 1250-16
indefinite suspension without a hearing cannot be lawful. This is particularly so where the
suspension is to facilitate the convening of a disciplinary committee to deal with the student.
In my view the power of suspension should be exercised in accordance with
administrative justice. The delay in bringing the applicants before a disciplinary committee
offends against the element of administrative justice requiring prompt, efficient and reasonable
conduct. This is so because you do not just send a student home indefinitely while others are
learning and in the process prevent him or her from taking examinations. There was a failure of
administrative justice which has greatly prejudiced the applicants.
The moment his preliminary points failed, Mr Jaravaza for the respondents conceded that
the applicants are entitled to relief on the merits. He added that, the respondents would like a
final order to be made as a provisional order would not serve any useful purpose in the
circumstances, a position which Mr Chitere for the applicants also embraced. For that reason,
the grant of a final order is by consent of the parties.
In my view the concession by Mr Jaravaza was properly made. It occurs to me that there
is a discernible readiness to unnecessarily pull the trigger and in the process play havoc to the
constitutional rights of students. To begin with, the whatsapp message complained of cannot
possibly be said to be offensive at all even if it had been generated by the applicants, of which it
was not. What the author was doing was to mobilise support among students to protest against
what was considered as an unreasonable decision by the University authorities to shift students to
Zvishavane a little town with inadequate infrastructure and the scarcity of accommodation.
So what? The decision which was being resisted was not made by God but by humans
who had not consulted the affected individuals. Zimbabwe being a democratic country it was
therefore the democratic right of those affected to protest and demonstrate their revulsion at such
a decision. How then could it be said that the mobilistaion was “illegal.”? Section 61 of the
constitution guarantees freedom of expression, that is to say, that individuals have the freedom to
seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information. Why then should a University be
seen to be working to stifle student rights when it was established with progressive objectives
including:
“--- the advancement of knowledge, the diffusion and extension of arts, science and
learning, the preservation, dissemination and enhancement of knowledge that is relevant
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