A MIDLANDS State University(MSU) philosophy lecturer, Ishmael Jeko, was found dead in his house last Friday.
Jeko was vice-president of Midlands State University Lecturers Association (MSULA).
He was recently fired from work under unclear circumstances and is suspected to have died from stress.
According to a source who spoke to NewsDay, Jeko’s sudden dismissal from employment must have affected him.
He becomes the fourth MSU employee to die suddenly after a brush with the management in a short period of
time.
This was after Solomon Raja from MSU’s Works and Estates Department collapsed and died in his house last year after a prolonged suspension from duty without salary and benefits.
Earlier, Abious Marozva, an administrator at MSU, had collapsed and died in his house after a demotion from lectureship to an administrative
role.
A few months earlier, Samson Rwadzi Mhlahlo died at his South Downs home after being demoted from the post of executive dean of Social Sciences to the post of acting director of Press and publications.
He was no longer an academic.
“This is clearly worrisome. Stress levels at MSU seem to have gone up lately and incidentally, those collapsing and dying would have had an abrasion of some sort with leadership,” the source said.
“For instance, in the past, instead of one’s suspension without salary and benefits lasting 14 days in line with the Labour Act, at MSU, one could be suspended in perpetuity.”
MSULA president Farai Ncube refused to comment on the matter saying he was at his farm.
newsday
