Landlords in Gweru’s Senga and Nehosho suburbs have bemoaned the closure of the Midlands State University (MSU) due to the coronavirus crisis as they have lost tenants who are students at the institution.
MSU cannot accommodate all its students on campus and had made a special arrangement with landlords to house off-campus students.
But following the government directive for all universities to close in March due to coronavirus and the suspension of final year examinations that were set to start on Monday, students have moved out leaving landlords without tenants.
Some landlords in Senga and Nehosho suburbs were charging US$20 per head while others were racking US$30 from one room.
Merjury Sibanda (22), who works as a caretaker managing two houses in the suburbs, told the Chronicle that she used to take care of 44 students each paying US$30 each per month.
This means that Sibanda was collecting US$660 per month from students. She said:
My job was mainly to look for students to rent the rooms at the two houses I run on behalf of my boss who is in Harare. I also made sure they follow house rules such as being indoors by 10 PM.
We follow MSU rules and regulations because they want these students to be treated like their counterparts on campus.
… My boss said he could not keep me since I am not bringing any income for him from students. I’m only looking after empty buildings and if Covid-19 persists, I will be out of the job soon.
MSU public relations director Mirirai Mawere said the institution has wardens who dealt with students’ accommodation affairs in every suburb in Gweru.