No kissing or sex allowed, Zimbabwe tells students

Students at the University of Zimbabwe face expulsion should they break new rules

(Getty)

Students at Zimbabwe’s premier university are stunned at new rules that ban them from kissing or having sex.

The University of Zimbabwe’s students’ union is objecting to the recently introduced decree that, if broken, could lead to immediate eviction from the university’s halls of residence.

Other misconduct that can result in eviction includes “loitering in dark places” and “harbouring a squatter”.

Tsitsi Mazikana, the students’ gender representative, told the BBC that the ban was enacted to control students, rather than uphold high standards of morality.

"If they were talking about anything moral they wouldn't be placing condoms in the hostels and in the clinic, but... kissing and hugging - there's nothing immoral about that," she said.

Specifically, the rules forbid students to be “caught in an intimate position, kissing or having sex in public places”.

Opposite-sex relations are already heavily regulated by the university. In halls of residences members of the opposite sex are only allowed in the foyer and are not permitted to visit after 10pm.

This is only the latest in a string of decisions made by university authorities that have upset students. Seven years ago beer was banned from campus, which was particularly disliked by the student body.

Other than voicing their discontent, there is little students at the university can do because of legislation that was passed, limiting the right to demonstrate.

The university has refused to respond to students' concerns.