Court orders Mzuni to award 10 students degrees

President Peter Mutharika will today be compelled by a High Court order to award degrees to 10 self-sponsored Mzuzu University (Mzuni) students initially excluded by the university from the list of awardees.

Blantyre-based visiting High Court judge Healy Potani issued the order in Mzuzu on Thursday for Mzuni to include the 10 barred on the basis that they paid fees later than their colleagues.

Mzuni had earlier tried to bar the students from taking examinations because they paid their fees late. The students obtained an injunction to stop Mzuni’s decision. After the results were out, the school also clang to their results and it took a legal battle to have the university release the results.

The institution then resorted to excluding the students from the list of graduates to be awarded degrees at a ceremony to be presided by Mutharika despite that they sat and passed their examinations but also paid fees.

Lawyer representing the students, Leonard Mbulo, said it was surprising that the university barred the students from graduating when they met all requirements.

Mzuni vice-chancellor Robert Ridley said he can only comment on the court decision after seeing the order.

Mutharika will preside over the Mzuni congregation where 832 are expected to graduate with degrees in various fields of study. Among the graduands are 589 males and 243 females.

During the congregation, 29 will be awarded master’s degrees, one a doctor of philosophy (PhD) and two, including poet and producer Qabaniso Malewezi aka Q Malewezi, will get honorary doctorate degrees.n