Chanco students’ union elections: Malawi’s ruling PP set to fill its candidates
There is fevered speculations that the governing People’s Party (PP) has fielded candidates for the December 7 elections of Students Union of Chancellor College (SUCC), a constituent college of the University of Malawi (UNIMA) in Zomba – the home of academic freedom.
An inside source confided to Nyasa Times on Monday that almost every position up for grabs in SUCC elections has a PP faithful.
It has been argued that the move is aimed at silencing Chanco students from holding demonstrations against the ruling regime.
“We have strong belief that government wants to shut us up when it comes to matters of demonstrations in this campus. There are concerns from most of the students but they have not been brought forward for resolution,” said the source.
Impeccable Nyasa Timessources claim that one of the PP candidates Edgar Chipalanjila, has withdrawn from vying for the position of president in the upcoming elections.
Efforts to contact Chipalanjila proved futile but the Bachelors of Education Language student is reported to have made the premature withdrawal from the race citing personal reasons.
“Chipalanjila announced his withdrawal on Sunday when Amayi (President Joyce Banda) came to Chancellor College to preside over the choir competition. All in all, we believe that he acted that way due to pressure from some of the students as he is also in the PP governing council,” said the source.
Meanwhile, the sources have revealed that another PP die-hard Chimwemwe Chidambe is expected to stand unopposed on the post of vice-president.
Other positions to be contested for in the SUCC elections are that of speaker and his deputy, director of academics, secretary and his vice, directors and deputy directors of sports, entertainment, catering and publications, director of women affairs, treasurer and his deputy.
Chanco, the largest of the University of Malawi colleges, was the center of academic freedom saga that lasted 8 months last year.
