Security lapse at Mzuzu University: Laptops stolen in hours

A cloud of insecurity is hovering among students at Mzuzu University (Mzuni) following several registered cases of theft, Nyasa Times can reveal.

During the weekend, two laptops belonging to two final year students – Leornard Banda and Yamiko Banda respectively – were stolen in a matter of hours.

Yamiko confirmed in an interview with Nyasa Times that she had “left” her room “temporally” only to find it broken into and her computer “gone” barely in a space of twenty minutes.

According to our findings, both laptops approximately cost around K450 000.

The two have since reported to school management but chances were scanty that the computers could be found.

President of the Mzuzu University Representative Council (MUSREC) was not immediately available for comment. We learnt he had stepped down pending elections next week.

But several students said it was “not the first time” such incidents had happened.

Theft of laptops, they said, has been rampant at the institution forcing management – for example – to install CCTV cameras in the university’s library in efforts to curb the malpractice.

On Sunday, another student who resides off-campus also had his brand new laptop which he had just received from home stolen.

Mzuni, a public institution of higher learning, has about 3 000 students during various programmes of study with education considered to be the largest faculty.