Malawi’s Mutharika given 5 days to resolve fees hike row, to meet rioting students
President Peter Mutharika is expected to meet some rioting students from the University of Malawi when he will be presiding over the awarding of degrees to those who have completed their education in the 2014/15 academic season.
The University of Malawi registry says the ceremony will take on Wednesday, August 10 at Chancellor College, the genesis of the current wave of violent protests against the fee hiked from K275000 to K400000.
The college was closed indefinitely.
The university says Mutharika, who is Chancellor of the University of Malawi, will award the degrees and certificates to former students from Chancellor College, Polytechnic, Kamuzu College of Nursing and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources formerly known as Bunda College of Agriculture and was a constituent College of the University of Malawi.
As the university office was issuing the statement, hundreds of students from Kamuzu College of Nursing were marching to civic offices in Blantyre and Lilongwe to protest against the fees hike and force Mutharika intervene on the matter.
The students have given President Peter Mutharika five days to respond to their demands on reversing the fees hike that University of Malawi (Unima) Council has effected.
They have called on Mutharika to intervene in what they call “an unfathomably disgusting move” to raise fees when the income status for most Malawian families is in bad shape.
The Petition, read by Banda, stated, “Our economy has for long now been in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Many Malawians are surviving perhaps the most turbulent economic times, with the lowest of incomes per individual families ever thought of.”
Police have been faulted for the heavy handedness in the way they handled the students protests.
Heavy security is expected to be at Chanceellor College in Zomba as the President will be awarding the degrees.
Mutharika is expected to respond to the students demands to slash the fees.
University of Malawi spokesperson Peter Mitunda ruled out the university would lower the fees, saying the university can only provide quality education with adequate financial resources.
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#unimafeesmustfall!! How can a country allow this to happen? Malawi sort yourself out, we are in deep sleep of myriad of issues! I understand the government did not increase the salaries of civil servant and worse still most of these students come from rural areas where their parents cannot even afford three meals a day. Its really touching to see that the annual fees for each of these students is less than the monthly fuel allowance of your MP’s, stomach bloated ministers and chief executives of parastatals. What are you doing Malawi?
Kodi iwe Peter Mitunda ndi ambuye akowo mukufuna anthu anene kuti chani? Nanunso a President (Chancellor) ngati mukudya bwino ndinu nokha!!
Seriously, you mean the noise all over is not meaning anything to you? If this is meant to create more room for the rich, believe it or not, the poor Malawian are tired and will never seat back and watch!!! All signs are now visible…………………. everywhere, lets wait and see who the looser will be in this case!!
Mtsinje wa tinkanena udathela mu si iziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!
I DON’T WHY SOME AFRICAN LEADERS DON’T VALUE EDUCATION? PETER PLEASE DO THE RIGHT THING.
The most passive president Malawi has ever had. Remember when he was education minister, he hibernated during academic freedom saga. And when he was Foreign affairs minister, he slept when the British envoy was declared persona non grata. Now he is the president, he can only come out when it’s on bbc. The hyena issue of lower Shire. Malawi is a failed state state with a tried and failed leader then as minister, and now as president
Absolutely right ‘Mbande’. You have said it as it is. The President doesn’t react to all these various crises because he doesn’t know how to! He has surrounded himself with people who haven’t a clue how a country should be run, and because they depend on the patronage of the President, they are afraid to speak out (even if they knew what to say!). A clueless President leading a clueless government!
all the student to be awarded with the degrees or certificates they should stay away from the ceremony otherwise pitala ndi matama akewo wont listen to the cries of the students