Students threaten protest over university closures

Three constituent colleges of the University of Malawi have been closed indefinitely due to a strike by lecturers, which began late last month. Students have threatened protest action if classes do not resume soon.

Malawian President Joyce Banda, who is chancellor of the University of Malawi, promised that she would resolve the situation – but a week after her pledge, there was still no end in sight to the crisis.

Students are infuriated by closures and wrote an open letter, published in the Malawi Voice on 10 October, to the council chair.

The letter said that the university’s polytechnic was scheduled to open on 30 September, Kamuzu College of Nursing on 7 October and Chancellor College on 14 October. The university had said in a press release that the colleges would not open until further notice.

The students asked the council to clarify steps that were being taken to “urgently resolve the dispute in which we the students are suffering to great extent”. They also demanded that the university management set clear dates for reopening the colleges, rather than “until further notice”.

Failure to respond favourably, the students warned, would result in “unspecified action” in line with the student union’s constitution and the laws of Malawi.

Students also bombarded the official Facebook page of Banda, who said that she had read all the messages and promised to address the student concerns in due course.

The president added that she had just arrived back from the United Nations General Assembly and was attending to urgent national matters, including the university issue. “You will get updated as soon as I can as I have just arrived from abroad. God bless you all!” wrote the president.

Since then, Banda has fired her cabinet and brought in a fresh team. She appointed Dr Lucious Kanyumba as the new education and science minister to replace Eunice Kazembe, who is now minister in the president’s office. Banda also sacked Ken Lipenga, the finance minister, and replaced him with former World Bank official Dr Maxwell Mkwezalamba.

Students not satisfied

But in the letter the student union said that while it had noted Banda’s undertaking, the matter needed to be addressed urgently. “Promises should be like a crying baby in church – they should be carried out at once.”

The students said that despite a legal framework providing for them to be consulted, they had not even been informed of the reasons why the colleges were to be indefinitely closed. The non-engagement of students, who have representatives on the council, was a violation of law.

The closure of colleges, the letter said, was “becoming a very unfortunate norm. This is completely unpalatable and detrimental to the development of the nation.” It also caused frustration and financial difficulties for students.

“Students will end up spending more than six years studying for a four-year course. This will delay and de-motivate the current students and students who are hoping to access university education. For how long are students going to be delayed and why should university education continue to decay. In three simple words, ‘We are tired’.”

The letter added that the majority of students affected were from poor families and could not afford private higher education.