COBUSU urges govt to probe bursaries committee

COBUSU urges govt to probe bursaries committee
By Mwila Chansa-Ntambi
Fri 07 Oct. 2011, 06:00 CAT

PRESIDENT Michael Sata must also clean up universities because they have been marred by corruption, according to former Copperbelt University Students' Union (COBUSU) president David Chikwanda. And Chikwanda has appealed to the new government to re-instate CBU students that were expelled in 2008 for protesting against the appointment of Dora Siliya as education minister.

In a statement, Chikwanda urged the government to ensure that an audit is conducted at the bursaries committee because it had allegedly been rocked with corruption and incompetence.

"For example, in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, government-sponsored students at CBU received an amount of K500,000 each from bursaries committee without any explanation. Up to now, no explanation has been given to explain this allowance because it was not the usual meal allowance," Chikwanda stated.

"It is not a secret that the bursaries committee was used to campaign for Rupiah Banda at the time by giving students bribes."

Chikwanda said this was not only electoral fraud but also corruption of the highest order, which needed to be followed up by the new government.

He said there were some government-sponsored students who used to go through their academic years without ever receiving the allowances due to them and yet the government had been releasing funds.

Chikwanda accused ‘greedy and selfish' individuals of stealing from innocent students.

And Chikwanda appealed to President Sata to reinstate students who were expelled in 2008 for protesting the appointment of Siliya.

The protest came after former president Banda re-appointed Siliya who had earlier resigned from her position as communications minister after the Judge Dennis Chirwa-led tribunal found that she had breached the Constitution by appointing RP Capital Partners of Cayman Islands to valuate Zamtel assets against the Attorney General's advice to the government.

"The students in the name of Kasonde Mwenda, Lucky Miyanda, Kenneth Sampa and Oliver Silumbe were used as scapegoats by heartless and selfish MMD cadres in the university management who protected their jobs at the expense of innocent students. I kindly appeal to the President to kindly reinstate our friends so that they can complete their education and contribute positively to the development of this nation," said Chikwanda.