Revolt and Protest: Student Politics and Activism in Sub-saharan Africa

360 Pages·2014·2.407 MB·English

by  Zeilig, Leo

REVOLT AND PROTEST
For Rocky
REVOLT AND PROTEST
Student Politics and Activism
in Sub-Saharan Africa
____________________________________________________
Leo Zeilig

Tauris Academic Studies
London • New York
Published in 2007 by Tauris Academic Studies,
an imprint of I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com

In the United States of America and Canada distributed by
Palgrave Macmillan a division of St Martin’s Press
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
Copyright © 2007 Leo Zeilig
The right of Leo Zeilig to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Design
and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the publisher.

International Library of African Studies 20
ISBN: 978 1 84511 476 3

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress catalog card: available
Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt. Ltd
camera-ready copy edited and typeset by
Oxford Publishing Services, Oxford
CONTENTS
___________________
Maps, Figures and Tables vi
Acronyms and Abbreviations vii
Acknowledgements xiii
Foreword by David Seddon xvii
Introduction 1
1. Politics, students and protest:
the making of the student intelligentsia 21
2. Contemporary student activism in
sub-Saharan Africa 59
3. Reform, revolt and student activism in Zimbabwe 94
4. Political change and student resistance in Senegal 163
5. Students of the transition speak:
the meaning of student protest 232
Conclusion: the return of the student intelligentsia? 259
Notes 274
Appendix: List of interviews 327
Index 329
MAPS, FIGURES AND TABLES
________________________________________________
Map 1: Locations of Senegal and Zimbabwe 3
Map 3.2: Principal institutions of higher education in Zimbabwe 95
Map 4.1: Universities in Senegal 164

Figure 2.1: A Nigerian academic and trade unionist, Femi
Aborisade, describes higher education in Nigeria 61

Table 2.1: The evolution of enrolment rates, 1980–95 69
Table 2.2: Gross Enrolment Rates 70
Table 2.3: Incidents of student activism during the democratic
transition 1985–95 83

vi
ACRONYMS AND
ABBREVIATIONS
____________________________
AEEMS Association des Elèves et Etudiants
Musulmans du Sénégal
AAS American Association for the Advancement
of Science
AAU Association of African Universities
ADEMA Alliance pour la Démocratie au Mali
AEEM Association des Elèves et Etudiants du Mali
AEMUD Association des Etudiants Musulmans de
l’Université de Dakar
AES Association des Etudiants Sénégalais
AESME Association des Etudiants et Stagiaires
Mourides d’Europe
AFCA Alliance des Forces du Changement pour
l’Alternance
AFP Alliance des Forces du Progrès
AGED Association Générale des Etudiants de Dakar
AGES Association Générale des Etudiants
Sénégalais
AGO Arthur Guseni Oliver (Mutambara’s initials)
AIDS autoimmune deficiency syndrome
AJ And Jeff
AJ–PADS And Jeff–Parti Africain pour la Démocratie et
le Socialisme
vii
Acronyms and abbreviations
AMEAN Association Musulmane des Etudiants
d’Afrique Noire
ANC African National Congress
AOF Afrique-Occidentale française
BAI Book Aid International
BTTC Belvedere Teachers’ Training College
CAFA Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa
CED Coordination des Etudiants
CES Coordination des Elèves du Sénégal
CFA West African franc
CGC Comité de Gestion de la Crise
CIP Comité d’Initiative et de Pilotage
CIRMES Collectif d’Initiative pour la Réorganization
du Mouvement Etudiant Sénégalais
CJPO Coordination des Jeunesses Politiques de
l’Opposition
CNTS Confederation Nationale des Travailleurs du
Senegal
CODESRIA Council for the Development of Social Science
Research in Africa
COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions
COUD Centre des Oeuvres Universitaires de Dakar
CPDM Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement
CPE Contrat Première Embauche
CSTS Coordination des Syndicats des Travailleurs
du Supérieur
CUR collèges universitaires régionaux
DRC Democratic Republic of Congo
ECA Economic Commission for Africa
EFI Ecole de Formation des Instituteurs
ENS Ecole Normale Supérieure
ESAP economic structural adjustment programme
FASEC Faculty of Economic Science
FEANF Fédération des Etudiants d’Afrique Noire en
France
FRTE Front pour la Régularité des Elections
viii
Acronyms and abbreviations
FSM Free Speech Movement
GARMES Groupe d’Action pour la Reconstruction du
Mouvement Etudiant Sénégalais
GDP gross domestic product
GMI Groupement Mobile d’Intervention
HIT Harare Institute of Technology
HIV human immunodeficiency virus
ICU Industrial and Commercial Workers Union
IFAN Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire
IFE Institut Français pour les Etrangers
IFIs international financial institutions
IGAs income generating activities
ILO International Labour Office
IMF International Monetary Fund
ISO International Socialist Organization
IUIU Islamic University in Uganda
LD League Démocratique
LD/MPT Ligue Démocratique–Mouvement pour le
Parti du Travail
LONASE Loterie Nationale Sénégalaise
LURD Liberians United for Reconciliation and
Democracy
MDC Movement for Democratic Change
MEEJIR Mouvement des Elèves et Etudiants de la
Jamaatou Ibadou Rahmane
MEEL Mouvement des Elèves et Etudiants Libéraux
MEES Mouvement des Elèves et Etudiants
Socialistes
MFDC Mouvement des Forces Democratique de la
Casamance
MJML Mouvement des Jeunes Marxiste Léniniste
MMD Movement for Multi-Party Democracy
NAB Non-Academic Bachelor
NANS National Association of Nigerian Students
NCA National Constitutional Assembly
NDP National Democratic Party
ix
Acronyms and abbreviations
NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NGO non-governmental organization
NLC National Liberation Council
NSS national strategic studies
NUC National Universities Commission
NURS National Union of Rhodesian Students
NUST National University of Science and
Technology
NWPC National Working People’s Convention
NYS National Youth Service
OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries
PAES Programme d’Amélioration de
l’Enseignement Supérieur
PAI Parti Africain de l’Indépendence
PCF Parti Communiste Français
PDEF Programme Décennal d’Education et de
Formation
PDS Parti Démocratique Sénégalais
PF Patriotic Front
PIT Parti de l’Indépendance et du Travail
POSA Public Order and Security Act
PRA Parti du Regroupment Africain
PRESBY President Biya’s Youth
PS Parti Socialiste
SAES Syndicat Autonome des Enseignants du
Supérieur
SAIH Norwegian Students’ and Academics’
International Assistance Fund
SANCO South African National Civic Organization
SAP Students Against Privatization
SAPES Southern Africa Political Economy Series
SAPs structural adjustment programmes
SDF Social Democratic Front
SECC Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee
SOAS School of Oriental and African Studies
x