By Kwedu Reporters
Sexual abuse of female students among tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe by Lecturers, especially Polytechnical (Poly) Colleges, seems to continue unabated following another allegation from Masvingo Poly that two male Lecturers who are also coaching athletics are in the habit of bedding students at the college.
This comes hot on the heels of another sexual abuse case from Gweru Poly, reported by Kwedu News in May this year (2023).
The two accused Lecturers, Isaac Tarisai Mboti from the Automotive department and one Mashavira from the Horticulture department, are the alleged sexual predators.
Speaking to Kwedu News, a whistle blower who prayed for anonymity said one of the lecturers was caught with a female student in his office on the eve of the ZTISU games.
“Two male lecturers who train the girls soccer team have been abusing the girls and one of the lecturers was caught red handed with a female student in his office at 6am.
“The students were leaving for ZTISU athletics games that day and the student was part of the athletics team in camp,” the whistleblower said.
Despite some concerned people having informed some of the top college administration officials including the Vice Principal on the issue, they are said to be dragging their feet, or taking no action.
“Heard that the issue has been on the VP (Vice Principal) and Dean’s desks for some weeks but no action is being taken,” the source said.
Its business as usual for the Lecturers as one of them was said to be marking exams at the University of Zimbabwe at the time of writing this article.
At the Gweru Poly case, an Information Technology Lab Manager, Edwin Chidume, was accused of fondling female students and verbally abusing them if they turned him down.
The college was dragging its feet on investigations into the sexual assaults and only expedited them following the exposure.
Civic Society Organisations fighting for women and girls’ rights have weighed in on the alleged abuses encouraging students to always report such cases.
Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCOZ) Gweru Chapter Chairperson, Nozipho Rutsate, applauded female students at such colleges who are speaking out.
“As WCOZ we applaud female students for speaking out on sexual harassment.
“We held awareness sessions last year, we call upon the colleges to institute sexual harassment policies and orient all incoming students so that they know the reporting structures,” Rutsate said.
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