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Union vows to defend academic freedom

Chancellor College Academic Staff Union (Ccasu) acting president Dr Jessie Kabwila-Kapasula has warned the union will take head-on anyone who dares threaten academic freedom in the university.

In her speech to Ccasu members marking the end of the year, Kabwila-Kapasula asked for vigilance in defence of academic freedom. She argued academic freedom enemies operate from a position of advantage.

Said the union boss: “We have illustrated that we remain vigilant and if anyone, organisation or process, threatens academic freedom in the University of Malawi [Unima] again, we are more than ready to take them on and last much longer than 260 days.

“Our continuance to perform our commitment to academic freedom will remind our enemies that we are game if they try to attack and, most importantly, we are proud of the fight we fought. It is a principle we will stand for forever.”

The battle for academic freedom in the University of Malawi (Unima) ended after President Bingu wa Mutharika announced in October 2011 that four fired lecturers Kabwila-Kapasula, Dr Garton Kamchedzera, Franz Amin and Dr Blessings Chinsinga were reinstated and that the college should open.

Mutharika went a step further by appointing a six-member commission of inquiry to, among other things, redefine academic freedom and investigate what he called the strike by lecturers.

Ccasu members felt their academic freedom was under threat after Inspector General of Police Peter Mukhito on February 16 2011 summoned Chinsinga following an example he gave in his public policy class on causes of revolutions.

In her address, Kabwila-Kapasula said even though those in the State and university administration offices appear to be respecting academic freedom after the fight, no Ccasu member can ever forget that these are the very people who failed to stand on the side of truth and justice.

“Instead of protecting academic freedom and those toiling to stand for it, [they] chose to castigate and demonise us, attempt to close our college, withhold our salaries, fire and insult us at every opportunity. We shall remember how our very lives became a premium of what we believe in,” she said.

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