CSO to continue mediation on Unima fee hike
Civil Society Platform for Constructive Dialogue (CS-PCD) says it will continue mediating on the stand-off between the University of Malawi Students Union (Umsu) and the University Council over university fee hike until an amicable solution is found.
Addressing a press conference in Lilongwe, chairperson of the mediation team Undule Mwakasungula said their idea was arrived at after noting the stand-off between the two parties which has led to the closure of Chancellor College (Chanco) and the Polytechnic.
“We engaged both parties and we had preliminary meetings with Umsu in Zomba on Wednesday July 19. However, events took over the whole process as you are aware that students from Chanco started demonstrations which led to loss of property, students being arrested and eventually closure of the college,” said Mwakasungula.
He said CS-PCD will soon resume the mediation for the two teams until a win-win situation for both parties is sought and a compromise is reached.
“We are not offering any solution as CS-PCD. Our role is just to bring them on one table to discuss the current impasse and bring out some good results which will make both parties smile,” he said.
Another member of the group, Fryson Chodzi, said it was sad to note that the demonstrations have led to the closure of the colleges which has put unnecessary burden on the students and parents who bear the cost of a protracted school calendar.
He called on university students in the country to exhaust all avenues of discussions before resorting to demonstrations although they have a constitutional right to do so.
Chodzi said it was deplorable to see that the recent violence by Chancellor College students threatened peace of even innocent residents of Zomba who were not party to the issue.
Lyton Nkata, another member, called upon Umsu to continuously commit to dialogue and ensure that all political interference within its ranks, especially at college level leadership, does not take centre stage to affect normal college activities.
The University Council recently proposed a fee hike in all the University of Malawi (Unima) constituent colleges.
The current fees for all Unima colleges is K275 000 ($380) and the proposed fees by the University Council are K570 000 ($788) for Chanco, K610 000 ($843) for the Polytechnic and Kamuzu College of Nursing and K760 000 ($1 050) for College of Medicine.
However, government approved K400 000 ($552) for Chancellor College, K450 000 ($622) for KCN and Polytechnic and K500 000 ($691) for College of Medicine.
