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.