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APM blamed for varsity standoff

 

President Peter Mutharika has been criticised by public university students and civil society organisations (CSOs) in the education sector for his silence on the closure of five institutions of higher learning in the country.

They have since branded the current state of academic affairs total disaster indicative of a failed, careless and clueless political leadership.

“Four months down this thorny path, the chancellor has uttered no single word on the matter, to the extent that we tend to wonder if he is even aware of the existence of a university [college] called Polytechnic,” reads in part a statement by Polytechnic Students Union(PSU).

The Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi (Unima) and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ (Luanar), Natural Resources College (NRC) Campus were closed indefinitely over a fee dispute.

Malawi College of Health Sciences (MCHS) and Mzuzu University (Mzuni) were closed over salary increment disputes between management and staff while Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) closed due to water problems.

Harawa (R) speaking during the press briefing as Ridely listens
Harawa (R) speaking during the press briefing as Ridely listens

However, Must communications officer James Mphande said in an interview yesterday the university reopens today.

Meanwhile,Mzuni Students Representative Council (Musrec), Youth and Society (YAS) and Civil Society Education Coalition (Csec) have joined PSU and have  questioned Mutharika’s leadership as the institutions’ chancellor.

Muscrec has called for Mutharika’s intervention, stressing his continued silence will worsen the situation.

 

Warning on nationwide demonstrations

The students have warned that they will stage nationwide demonstrations and a vigil at Parliament Building in Lilongwe until their demands are met.

YAS executive director Charles Kajoloweka said the current academic crisis has a negative bearing on the socio-economic development of young people, their families and the general population.

“The President cannot continue abdicating his constitutional obligation of providing sound leadership on matters of national significance. President Mutharika should come out and account for the current crisis and provide a sense of direction,” he said.

Kajoloweka also threatened to facilitate civil action on November 30 if government fails to reopen the colleges.

Csec executive director Benedicto Kondowe also condemned closure of the institutions.

He said: “Csec has noted with deep shock circumstances that have characterised continued closures of institutions of higher learning in the country.

“This raises a number of governance and leadership concerns in respect of which striking observations and preliminary recommendations to the concerned parties and relevant stakeholders have been made.”

Press secretary to the President Mgeme Kalirani kept postponing interviews when called for a comment.

 

Developments at mzuni, government not ready to settle

Meanwhile, government has put its foot down, stating that it is not ready to raise salaries for the academic and non-academic staff at Mzuni.

The staff, through their respective unions—Mzuni Non-Academic Staff Trade Union  (Munastu) and Mzuni Academic Staff Union  (Muasu)—are demanding a 35 percent increase across the board to reflect the current standard of living and the rising inflation rates.

They are currently boycotting work to force government to effect their demands.

But Mzuni Vice-Chancellor Robert Ridley told the media in Lilongwe yesterday that government does not have the financial muscle to meet the demands, which would cost the taxpayer an extra K1.5 billion.

Explained Ridley: “In drawing up the budget for 2016/17, prior to its submission to Parliament, government directed Mzuzu University that it could not include salary increases within its budget and no provision was made for a salary increase.”

He disclosed that recent discussions with the Treasury had also confirmed that no additional resources would be available to supplement Mzuni’s budget for this financial year.

“The Council, thus, has no access to additional funds for a salary increase,” said Ridley, who sounded very concerned as he read a statement to journalists.

He predicted that the council will face “another cash flow deficit of up to K400 million for this financial year”.

“Ideally, the deficit needs to be covered before any additional expenditure,” he emphasised.

Mzuni Council chairperson Rex Harawa said they have already communicated to the concerned parties about their stand.

But Harawa expressed hope that the striking staff will appreciate the financial hardships the institution is currently facing and return to work as soon as possible.

Munastu president Gruno Muyola confirmed in a telephone interview that he had received the communication.

But Muyola could not comment on whether the striking staff would resume teaching anytime soon.

“We’ll take the Council’s message to our constituency, which will have a final say on the matter. It’s the constituency that will decide on the way forward,” he explained.

Mzuni Students Union president Wazamazama Katatu feared rejection by government to address grievances of the striking staff even by a smaller margin will further aggravate the situation.

Katatu said students will closely follow the interactions between government and the disgruntled staff members.

 

Developments at Luanar

In a related development, Luanar has revised its fees by giving a 12.5 percent relief to all undergraduate students at Bunda, City Centre and Natural Resources College (NRC) campuses.

This comes against the background of NRC Campus’s closure in September this year following protests by students over the university’s decision to raise fees for all the undergraduate diploma and degree programmes offered by the university by an average of 45 percent. About 20 students were arrested during the protests.

According to the statement, bachelor’s degree programmes generic students at Bunda Campus will now be required to pay K317 187.50 from the hiked K362 500 whereas bachelor’s degree mature students at the same Bunda Campus and City Campus will now be paying K674 625 from the hiked K771 000 per year.

But presidential press secretary Mgeme Kalirani said the president is concerned with the situation.

He said: “The President, in his capacity as Chancellor of the public universities, is concerned that some Councils are yet go find solutions to challenges affecting delivery of services in their colleges.

“The Chancellor is encouraging the respective Councils to expedite all necessary processes in line with their statutory   obligations to ensure that the colleges open as soon as possible.” n

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