Malawi Police arrest students leader Ayuba: Chancellor College closed indefinately
Malawi Police have arrested Chancellor College Students Union president James Ayuba Sylvester following the protests the students from Chancellor College (Chanco), a constituent college of the University of Malawi, concucted over fees hike.
Accoridng to police, Ayuba been arrested together with University of Malawi Students Union (UMSU) vice president Godfrey Pumbwa and the college’s UMSU representative Fiskan Nkhoma.
The three are facing charges of inciting violence.
This follows students burning tyres on the road M5 road blocking United States second lady Dr. Jill Biden motorcade.
Biden in the company of USA ambassador to Malawi Virgin Palmer and Malawi’s Minister of Education Science and Technology, Emmanuel Fabiano, sought temporal refuge at the Eastern Region Police office in Zomba as they waited for the situation to calm down but cancel the visit to return to Blantyre.
Ayuba said students “were holding peaceful sit-in” at Chanco campus but were provoked by heavy handedness of Police who stormed the campus to intimidated them.
Meanwhile, Chanco has been closed with immediate effect.
The college principal, Richard Tambulasi, announced that the school has been closed because “the demonstrations were illegal and for the security threat that the demonstrations posed”.
Tambulasi has however, not indicated when the college will open.
Chancellor College students together with other Unima students have been expressing their concern with the decision by the Unima council to hike school fees which students argue is too exorbitant. However, the university council has also put its foot down that it will not reverse the fee hike because the cost of running the university has gone up.
Last week the University of Malawi Students’ Union (UMSU) announced their intention to hold a vigil at the university office to force university to reverse the fee hike. However, The Malawi Polytechnic, another constituent college of Unima, did not take part in the demonstrations because they are sitting for end of year examinations.
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Ayuba ndi ISIS uyu.
Ayuba ndi Mchawa wapwisi wakulu wakulu. Government is not your father. The University council has put measures to secure fees for poor students and that is all over the local tvs. these students deserve the most stiff penalties.
Protesting is not illegal, these student were arrested so the government can save face from the embarrassment .
Point of correction: A hospital to be called ‘University Hospital’ doesn’t necessarily sell their services. What it entails is that such hospitals are institutions where university students studying medicine and health related subjects go to for their practices. To concur with the idea but differently, universities worldwide operate as business institutions with government arms providing very minimal financial support unlike the case in Malawi.
Just to comment on ‘Tisamve kuti mwamupha mwanayo’ point: Mwana amapitira ku sukulu maphunziro, sindaleyi. Mwana sakhala ndi dazi ngati likuoneka apali. Uyu ndi wamkulu wa sukulu ndipo zikamubvuta ndi chifukwa chache.
Student uprising brought down apartheid in South Africa, lets do it folks
There’s a problem from both the university and the students side. Lack of transparency from the UNIMA team . Imagine what the end result would be if there was proper dialogue between the students, teachers and management.. and explaining clearly and comprehensively to each other on what and why certain actions have to be taken or why others won’t be done. What kind of graduates are we making for the past 10years who believe the only way to resolve anything is through breaking / burning things? Equally we don’t have accountable management in the university and there’s probably lack of… Read more »
The zicheche president will not take this country anywhere. A police mukulephera kumanga omwe anapha Njaunju komanso omwe akupha malibino. Mukulimbana ndi atsogoleri amawa. You
Voti voti abale voti eee tathauzo lake mpikosano now look our dpp votes are being lost
This country is very unfortunate in that tili ndi anthu osamva! Yes, aMalawi ndi anthu osamva! Uyu president wolimbikitsa anthu akudya mbewa ndi zichecheyu anali Minister of Education mu 2010-2011 ndipo analephera kuthetsa mavuto a “Academic Freedom”. Ma colleges a UNIMA anakhala chitsekere kwa nthawi yaitali (pafupifupi miyezi itatu ngati si inayi) – koma iyeyo ngati nduna ya za maphunziro anathawa nkupita ku Amereka (nthawi imeneyo nkuti ali ndi Green Card) pa tchuthi! Zoona mtsogoleri angthawe kusiya nyumba ikuyaka kupita kutchuthi?? Ndipo yemwe panopa ndi nduna ya za maphunziro (a Dr. Emmanuel Fabiano) pa nthawiyi anali Vice-Chancellor wa UNIMA yemwe… Read more »
za ziii!…olo atawina wanuyo nde pali chanzeru angachichite?…nsanje basi!
fitso
the problem with university of malawi is that it 100% dependends on government. in other universities,they are fully commecialised and hence they generate they income through sales of virious services. for example best hospitals in the world are university hospitals.