Bunda College, a constituent college of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar), has been indefinitely closed due to the ongoing misunderstandings between students and their principal, Professor Moses Kwapata.
The students have been boycotting classes for two weeks now, pressing for the immediate resignation of Kwapata for allegedly failing to run the institution. He has since declined to resign.
The students are also seeking a clarification from their Chancellor, President Joyce Banda, on whether they will get University of Malawi (Unima) certificates upon completion of their studies, following the delinking of Bunda from Unima.
Bunda Students Union president Hastings Nhlane confirmed in an interview on Friday about the closure.
“We got news of the imminent closure and shortly afterwards we saw five police vans full of armed officers arriving on campus. They informed us that we have one hour to leave campus because the Luanar Council has closed the school until further notice. Though without an official letter addressing us [students] on the matter, we did not protest for fear of reprisals from the police and so we are leaving,†he said.
Luanar Council chairperson Professor Zac Kasomekera said Bunda management is just enforcing a decision that was made earlier.
In another interview, Bunda College vice-principal Dr. Charles Masangano confirmed that the school has been closed indefinitely pending investigations into issues raised by the students as well as others related to the matter.
