University of Malawi (Unima) students’ representatives yesterday met Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President and Leader of Opposition, Lazarus Chakwera, and sought his intervention on the fees saga that has rocked the university.
Chairperson of the Education Committee of Parliament, Elias Chakwera, MCP spokesperson on Finance Alexander Kusamba- Dzonzi and the party’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Alekeni Menyani, also attended the meeting which took place in Lilongwe and lasted slightly over 30 minutes.
Addressing the media after the meeting, the MCP leader said as a party, they are siding with the students and would want to understand their grievances better, having already heard from many other people on the saga.
“They came in order to appraise me on the issue and to understand whether I am aware of the problems they are facing. I gave them my position and the position is that they have a right to education.
“So we are siding with the students because we represent our people and it is our desire that their concerns are addressed. I, personally, have a desire that things should be concluded so that the students can continue with their education,” said Chakwera.
He added that the information that he had got from the students is that they are not necessarily against the fees hike, but want a considerable rise so that they are not forced to withdraw because they cannot afford the fees.
“With all the money provided for tertiary education, we need to find ways of making sure education is accessible. This to me is not consumption but an investment; believing in our young people and giving them a future,” said Chakwera.
For generic students, Unima hiked the fees across its constituent colleges from K275,000 to a minimum of K380,000.
Mature entry students are required to pay K900,000 for Chancellor College (Chanco), K1.4 million for College of Medicine (CoM), K1 million for Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN) and K950,000 for The Polytechnic.
But the students and other opponents argue that the increase is not commensurate with the economic challenges which the majority of Malawians are grappling with.
And according to Chakwera, the hike will result into many students failing to acquire tertiary education
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