Bunda College shut down as police tear gas students
Bunda College of Agriculture, until few weeks ago a constituent college of the University of Malawi (UNIMA), was on Wednesday closed down barely few hours after irate students resumed their protests.
The students were given just one hour Wednesday afternoon to pack up and leave the campus.
However, t they resisted the directive after reports indicated that the students’ union representatives had rushed to court to obtain an injunction restraining the authorities from effecting their indefinite closure.
The students’ resistance compelled riot police to fire tear gas canisters around the campus in a desperate bid to disperse them from the college vicinity.
Accuse Principal of maladministration
The students are protesting to press for the removal of their Principal Moses Kwapata accused of maladministration particularly in the manner in which he has handled the transition process for the college from University of Malawi to Lilongwe University of Natural Resources and Agriculture (LUNA).
The students want their diplomas and degrees to bear the UNIMA logo and not LUNA as per the bill passed by the National Assembly when Bunda College merged with the Natural Resources College (NRC) to form the Lilongwe University of Natural Resources and Agriculture.
Earlier in the day, the irate students, armed with tree branches, stones, among others, threatened to destroy college property, particular the principal’s house, if he is not removed from the institution.
Students’ Union Vice President, Ruth Pondani, said students have lost trust and confidence in their principal and wanted him to resign or be shifted to another institution.
As the time of compiling the story, some students were still loitering around the campus while a crowd of security forces aggressively guarded the campus.
