By Erick Mchome, Success Reporter
The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is taking one of the toughest stands it has ever adopted on student protests. Since a wave of unrest rocked the premier institution of higher learning last December, university authorities have departed from decades of “suspend or expel” practice by insisting on the stiffer “suspend, expel and blacklist” punishment in a bid to restore order at the country’s largest university.

The hard-line stance has already caused consternation among students, student leaders, politicians and some education stakeholders, who warn that the recent trend at public universities threatens the future of tertiary education in Tanzania.

But the UDSM leadership, supported by the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), which is blacklisting students allegedly caught on the wrong side of the law, is determined not to back down, as officials are angry that the authorities’ goodwill on student protests has been taken for granted.

“The university will not hesitate to take serious measures, including suspension and expulsion, against all those who engage in unlawful activities that are bent on disrupting the smooth functioning of the university,” said Prof Rwekaza Mukandala, the UDSM vice chancellor.

Last Tuesday, the university expelled 13 students and suspended 86 others over a strike that rocked the main campus nearly a fortnight ago. The students were protesting against the expulsion and subsequent blacklisting of their colleagues last month, who were accused of staging what the UDSM authorities labelled “an illegal” demonstration over issues ranging from lack of practical training to the non-payment of allowances.

On December 14 last year, Prof Mukandala announced the expulsion of 43 students involved. He said the institution was working with the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) and TCU to ensure that the expelled students are blocked from accessing government loans and admission to any other university in the country.

Observers say the hard-line stance is not good for not only the students, but also the nation’s tertiary education system.

“In my opinion, these decisions are not made with the best interests of students at UDSM or Tanzanians in mind. Rather, they are aimed at serving (the interests) of a few people in the administration,” says Prof Mwesiga Baregu, a senior lecturer and political analyst at St Augustine University of Tanzania.

Too harsh a punishment
“The judgment is too harsh a punishment to the students, since the university administration did not even take time to listen to them. Natural justice dictates that everyone has the right to be heard,” he told Success in a telephone interview recently.

Paul Makonda, chairman of the Tanzania Higher Learning Institutes Organisation, agrees. He says his organisation is against the decision made by the UDSM management.

“They are using shortcuts in their desperate bid to solve problems at the university. The UDSM management does not have strong ground to support such a heavy punishment,” he says.

He adds: “There is need for the administration to be patient – to give the students audience and sincerely listen to their problems. They are university students – you don’t expect them to say ‘Yes’ to everything.”

Still, UDSM officials believe they are doing the right thing. Their message is loud and clear: Desperate situations call for desperate measures.

“The university management has been trying to involve students in discussions whenever problems arise, but they (students) do not use the discussion method,” said Prof Makenya Maboko, the UDSM deputy vice chancellor (Academic).

Justifying the tough line the institution is taking on rioting students, Prof Maboko told reporters at a press conference last week that the institution believed expelling students was the right thing to do under the circumstances.
“The students have a tendency to be violent. Rather than using diplomatic ways when pushing their agenda, they resort to violence, leaving the management with no option but to expel and suspend.”

Defiant, student leaders hoped, in the aftermath of last December expulsions, that the university administration would reverse its decision.

“We believe in dialogue and we are very sure that the management will listen to us and agree to let our colleagues continue with their studies,” a Dar es Salaam University Students’ Organisation (Daruso) leader told The Citizen, adding that they believed their demands were valid and that expelling them would not solve student problems.
But that has not happened. Instead, there are more expulsions.

And now the fate of the 13 students, who were shown the door last week, remains unknown. The worst-case scenario could be finding their names in the TCU black book, as the authorities try to hold students in check through the ‘expel and blacklist’ approach.

Meanwhile, student leaders are hoping the investigations being conducted will be completed soon enough for suspended students to sit their exams.

In an interview with Success, the Dar es Salaam University Students Organisation (Daruso) president, Kilawa Simon, says: “I cannot say much about the crisis because there are ongoing investigations, and I am one of the affected. But my hope is that the investigations will be done quickly for students to sit the exams.”

A student leader at Tumaini University, Iringa College, Method Kagoma, says part of the solution to the confrontations between students and university managements is in the government being proactive.

Creating more problems
“The decision made by UDSM management will never be the solution to these problems. If anything, they are creating more problems. Why does the government wait until students strike to address their problems?” queries Kagoma, president of the Tumaini University Students’ Organisation.

What does this uncompromising stance mean to the future of student activism in the country? What are its implications? Will it work? Will it stop students from demonstrating? These are tricky questions that, unfortunately, only posterity can answer with utter certainty.

While many perceive this as a punishment too heavy to carry for the students, for the UDSM administration, it’s a necessary evil.

Granted, there is a bigger problem than meets the eye. Strikes have become the order of the day, and long-term solutions are long overdue, education stakeholders say.

Last year, students began striking from as early as January. It was the beginning of a series of demos throughout the year.
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