Maravi

Levy should admit failure in education sector - HH

Levy should admit failure in education sector - HH
By Lambwe Kachali and Masuzyo Chakwe
Tuesday May 27, 2008 [04:00]

UPND president Hakainde Hichilema yesterday said President Levy Mwanawasa is being irresponsible in the manner he is handling the grievances of the University of Zambia (UNZA) students. And United Liberal Party (ULP) president Sakwiba Sikota called for an inquiry into the shooting of two UNZA students to determine whether the situation warranted the use of live bullets.

Briefing the press at his residence yesterday, Hichilema said President Mwanawasa should admit that he had failed to find a lasting solution to the problems affecting students at UNZA.

Hichilema said it was extremely sad that the President had issued threatening remarks against students instead of exhibiting good leadership and ensuring that their grievances were addressed.

He said the main problems at UNZA were lack of funding and poor management of resources by the Ministry of Education.

Hichilema said President Mwanawasa should not blame the students but admit that he had failed to uplift the education sector.

"I was very alarmed to hear President Mwanawasa say that his government will not increase allowances that our students are requesting.

This is total irresponsibility of the highest standard. We have been calling for proper funding to our two universities and unless this is done, students' unrest will not be stopped," Hichilema said. "Right now President Mwanawasa is spending more money for his trip to Japan than what is requested by the students. Why can't he prioritise education in the country?"

He said President Mwanawasa's statement was enough to suggest that he had failed to run the country, more particularly the education sector.

Hichilema said Zambia had failed to improve the education system to compete with other countries at world level despite having gained independence 44 years ago.

"And now President Mwanawasa is telling our poor students to quit education just because they are demanding better allowances. Is UNZA for Levy's children and his ministers children alone?" Hichilema asked. "President Mwanawasa should know that K300,000 with these high prices of food is not enough for students to sustain themselves."

And asked why he could not attend Africa Freedom Day celebrations at State House on Sunday, Hichilema said leadership was about priorities. Hichilema said although he respected Africa Freedom Day, there was no way he could attend the celebrations when majority Zambians were suffering. He said such celebrations were meaningless when citizens were being shot at by state agents.

"I thought visiting the students who were shot at by the police was more important than listening to music and eating cake at State House. So I went to visit the students at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH)," said Hichilema.

On Sunday, President Mwanawasa before departure for Japan said the government would not increase the meal allowances for students as they were reasonably paid.

And Sikota in an interview yesterday said it was very sad that the problem at UNZA had reached such levels.

"This goes back to what I had debated on the Zambia Police in Parliament on the need to equip them with proper crowd control equipment such as rubber bullets and water canisters so that they don't panic when people are rushing to them. They should also be trained in crowd control," he said.

Sikota said a full enquiry was needed to establish the circumstances under which the two students were shot.

"Who fired the shots? Who gave the briefing to the police on the situation at UNZA and what the briefing was all about," he said.

He said there was also a need to resolve the issue of the meal allowances.
Sikota said there were three solutions to the problem at UNZA.

"The fees can either remain the way they are, or they can be increased or it can be decided whether or not the students should be fed and they get coupons," he said.
Sikota said there was need for a study to determine how the students came up with the K600,000 they were demanding.

"The study should determine if the current amount is enough to sustain the students and also how they came up with their figure. It is time to deal with the matter based on evidence in the ground. By doing the study, it is also possible to find out if government can buy in bulk. We need to investigate the pros and cons," Sikota said.

And the University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU) has complained to the Inspector General of Police Ephraim Mateyo over the alleged unprofessional and inhuman behaviour exhibited by police officers during the internal demonstration, which took place last week.

In a letter dated May 25, 2008 to Mateyo signed by UNZASU vice-president Duncan Nyirongo and secretary general Charity Samunuma, the students stated that they were treated like armed criminals even though they did not damage any public property or disturb public peace.

They stated that they were merely exercising their constitutional and democratic right of holding a peaceful internal demonstration to express their grievances over government's failure to grant them the justified meal allowance increment.

"The action taken by the police to shoot innocent and unarmed students using live bullets in an attempt to disperse them was uncalled for; to begin with, the policemen are the ones who provoked the situation by going into lecture theatres with guns to scare away everyone, as though that was not enough, your men went further to follow the students in the residences where they had fled to for safety, and fired tear gas canisters in the rooms leading to the destruction of university and students property.

A number of students collapsed and most of them were choked and had to leave their rooms for fresh air outside where the police savagely shot two of our students, Chewe Chisala and Samuel Nasilele with live bullets," they stated.

The union stated that using live ammunition on innocent civilians was unethical.
"Firing teargas canisters in the residences is also unacceptable. Recently, Parliament also passed a law that prohibits the usage of teargas on humans, which you have also decided to ignore," he said.

The union stated that the police also damaged property in the process.
They have since demanded a comprehensive report on what prompted the policemen to disturb the normal operations of the university by stopping lectures and ordering the closure of some offices, as well as interfering in a peaceful internal demonstration.

"The culprits that shot the two students should be dealt with sternly and the police should issue a public apology to the victims and the UNZA community at large.

The Lusaka police deputy commanding officer, Chewe Bowa, who is also a post-graduate student at UNZA should be dealt with for blatantly confirming that the police had used live bullets on the students, about 400 metres away from the main road, because the students were indisciplined. UNZASU is forced to believe that he ordered this shameful act, as he was on the site of these events," they stated.

They stated that the police should heavily compensate the two students who were shot as well as those whose property was destroyed.

"The police should apologise to the student populace for interfering in the exercise of their constitutional right. Your office should facilitate the evacuation of the student who was shot in the chest, who up to now has the bullet lodged in his chest and the condition is unstable, for specialist treatment," the letter read in part.

On President Mwanawasa's statement that the government would not increase meal allowances, union president Solomon Ng'ambi said the President was being misinformed over students' allowance negotiations. Ng'ambi said the bursary was not negotiable but that the allowances could be adjusted.

"Lungwangwa is misleading President Mwanawasa. Lungwangwa is behaving as if he were not a professor and does not know these conditions. Negotiations over allowances are even enshrined in the constitution. The union will explain to the president when he returns from Japan," said Ng'ambi.

Meanwhile, the condition of Nasilele and Chisala, who were admitted to UTH last Friday is stable. The students have even been moved from the low cost ward to the high cost ward after Hichilema paid K2 million when he visited them on Sunday.

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, MWANAWASA, SAKWIBA SIKOTA, ULP

posted by MrK @ 3:44 AM