Uladi sides with University of Malawi students on Fees Must Fall campaign: Chakwera says Mutharika has priorities upside down
Opposition political parties over the weekend faulted the government for the increased public university fees and continued decline of the economy.
Peoples Party acting president Uladi Mussa described the Peter Mutharika administration as insensitive, for increasing the fees in the harsh economic times.
“They need to suspend the increase in the University of Malawi fees, the situation on the ground is not good, people are suffering terribly,” said Mussa.
He said the government took a wrong approach, saying the best approach was to do it gradual instead of raising the fees at one go from K175000 to K400000.
University of Malawi Students Union (UMSU), who also agree with a reasonable increase of fees if the hike is necessary have said those who pay K55 000 should pay not more than K100 000. Those paying K250 000 should pay K275 000, those who pay K275 should pay K280 000 and the new first years should pay K300 000.
They continued to say mature students for KCN and College of Medicine should not have their fees hiked since they are already expensive and mature students for Polytechnic and Chanco should pay K400 000.
Chancellor College (Chanco), Polytechnic and Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN) students have all held demonstrations protesting to the new fee hike saying the fee hike is too much and most students cannot afford.
KCN students from both Lilongwe and Blantyre campus delivered petitions on 27 July where they were pleading with the President to intervene in the issue.
Addressing a political rally in Nkhotakota, Chakwera blamed the government for economic upside down policies that has led the high cost of living.
“Everything has completely gone up and the government seems not to be in control. People out there are suffering but the government seems not to care,” he said.
He advised Mutharika and his government to wake up and face the reality that most ordinary Malawians cannot make ends meet how much hard working they can be because of the harsh economic times.
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The basic issue is not addressed: education is an equalizer that can stop poverty from running in families, and supports the rights of children from poor families. This market-based approach is contravening the rights of the child, and is alien to Africa. This is capitalism imported from the west, instead of our homegrown umunthu, where the whole community supports the weak.
Please here what the outcry from the public.Anthu taphinjidwa Mmalawi muno.Tikumafunsa kuti kwathu ndikonkuno kapena tasmukira kwina?Mulungu musatichokere Yanganani wolengedwa anu pa Malawi.Pump sense in our leaders that they should realise that you chose them to care for your people.Amen
Sad for both the students and the University Council. Unfortunately when one decides to enroll for University, one is already aware that quality University Education doesn’t come cheap every where in the world. Gone are the days when governments provided free and subsidized education. Obtaining bursaries for needy students is the way to go and this is perhaps where the government should open more avenues for loans and bursaries. ” Fees Must Fall” implying free education is a stupid slogan copied from South Africa which has failed and can not succeed in Malawi though how much politicized it can be.
Uladi and Chakwera are hypocrites. These fees were factored in the 2016/2017 UNIMA budget which the two opposition leaders approved through their vote in Parliament when they approved the National budget. Why did they not argue in Parliament that fees should not be increased and instead government should increase allocation to the university to carter for the sub sidized fees which they are championing now. Or did they approve deliberately with the aim of pointing fingers at government as if they were not party to it??? Stupid fools!!!!!!!
All I see is political posturing by our opposition parties than to be part of solutions to national challenges. Otherwise, the PP, which Uladi Mussa heads and was a minister in the cashgate thieving government, is the one that chased donors leading to these economic problems. I wonder where they get the guts to blame the current government on their shit before us. As for MCP, you found us poor and you left us even poorer than the colonial government left us despite all those ‘cold war’ and ‘apartheid’ aid windfalls and benefits. I believe 31 year was more than… Read more »
Obviously you are either a blind supporter or intellectually challenged. Or you were born in mult party era so your ability to compare the two eras is compromised by inadequate experience in the one party system. For you information almost anything you see around is a testimony of Dr Bandas work. In the north we had Hara Wobve Kabwafu Mbalachanda agricultural schemes producing food and forex the centre had General farming press farming spearhead enterprise buwa rice scheme FFCTA and the south had zmpheta in zomba. There were a lot of manufacturing companies such as Noil producing oil from cotton… Read more »
Malawi opposition parties……
When time is ripe, Joyce Banda will step down as PP president and then hand over the mantle to her son.Mr Mussa will then be left in the cold.Remember what happened to Jumbe in UDF.