COBUSU leaders to sue govt for false detention
Written by Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Monday, September 07, 2009 2:46:12 PM
COPPERBELT University Student Union (COBUSU) vice-president Lucky Miyanda and secretary general Kenneth Sampa have indicated that they will sue the government for false detention and defamation of character.
Miyanda and Sampa who were detained after CBU students allegedly burnt down a vehicle belonging to a Kitwe businessman during a protest at the campus described their detention as politically motivated and meant to silence students.
"The whole thing is coming from above, our detention was politically motivated, and we were asked to give them the names of monks (male students), but I told them that I am not interested in other people's affairs. The interrogation officers were coming from Ndola," said Miyanda.
Miyanda said during the interrogations, police told him that he was detained because he was COBUSU vice-president..
"So because I am a vice-president for COBUSU, that is the reason why they detained me. In the near future, they should also consider arresting RB (President Rupiah Banda) or Sata (PF leader) when their cadres fight," he said.
He said the police had insufficient evidence over the matter and ended up labelling him a ‘stubborn leader’.
"They (police) started calling me stubborn, I am a good leader, that is why students like me at CBU," he said.
Miyanda wondered why the government just decided to single out the two COBUSU leaders who were not even on the scene when the incident happened.
And Sampa said the government was trying to look for loopholes so that they could silence the students.
He said the government would not stop their demands for it to look into the plight of Cornelius Mweetwa, the CBU student who was shot at by police.
Sampa reiterated the students' demands for President Banda to remove Dora Siliya as minister of education.
He said police were still following individual students at their respective homes.
"They are just looking for loopholes to silence us, we are not their enemies, we are enemies of injustice, we are intellectuals, we analyse issues, it is very unfortunate that the government is using poaching methods to try and silent us," he said.
Sampa said it was sad that CBU management had decided to close the learning institution indefinitely.
He said management at the campus would have solved the problems prevailing at the university without closing the institution.
Labels: ARRESTS, CBU, COBUSU, KENNETH SAMPA, LUCKY MIYANDA
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Police try to squeeze rioters’ names from COBUSU leaders
Written by Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 6:15:00 PM
POLICE in Kitwe have turned the heat on Copperbelt University Students Union (COBUSU) leaders to reveal names of students that took part in last week’s riot or take the responsibility.
But Copperbelt division commanding officer Antoneil Mutentwa said investigations on who was involved in the riot were on-going and that the union leaders were just among the list of people to be interviewed so far.
COBUSU secretary general Kenneth Sampa confirmed in an interview yesterday that police told him and his president Kasonde Mwenda that the case might fall on them if they failed to provide the names of the students who rioted and burnt a private vehicle belonging to a 76-year-old man.
"They said by virtue of us being on the scene, we should provide them with names. But we told them that we can't know all the students in campus and besides, there were a lot of strange faces," Sampa explained.
He said he felt victimised by the statement that failure to furnish police with names would mean that he be implicated in the case.
"We are thinking of engaging a lawyer but we have problems with money at the moment so we are planning to go to Legal Aid Board this [yesterday] afternoon," he said.
Sampa said on the actual night of the riot, he and Mwenda had gone to the roadside to try and restrain the students from engaging in violence and that they even called the dean of students to inform him of that.
And Mwenda said police labelled students’ representatives as suspects by virtue of them being leaders.
"But we told them that we did not authorise the riot. The students are gone and police were not there on the scene, so I don't know how they expect to know who was involved," Mwenda wondered.
However, he said he was not scared of the investigation because COBUSU leaders were nowhere near to guilty over what transpired.
But Mutentwa said he was not aware that the COBUSU leaders were told that if they did not furnish police with names then the case would fall on them.
"Well, I am not aware of that and I was not part of the interviewing panel. But that is not how we operate as police because that would be tantamount to blackmail which would not help us secure a conviction," said Mutentwa. "That is not an official stance of the police. We don't work like that. Our investigations are still going on and we'll be interviewing other people. The student leaders were just part of that list."
Labels: ANTONEIL MUTENTWA, COBUSU, DEMONSTRATION, KENNETH SAMPA
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Dora faces CBU students demo
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 4:17:40 PM
COPPERBELT University Students Union (COBUSU) secretary general Kenneth Sampa has threatened that the students’ body will stage a peaceful demonstration against the appointment of Dora Siliya as education minister. Sampa said COBUSU decided to side with University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU)'s rejection of the former communications minister and vowed that students would not rest until she was replaced with someone else.
"COBUSU is disappointed with the appointment of Dora Siliya as education minister," Sampa said. "We are happy with the removal of [Professor Geoffrey] Lungwangwa but his replacement is worse. Most of the problems that this country faces emanate from the education sector. If we had a higher standard of education, the problems that we face would have been solved. So we need someone who can perform beyond what Lungwangwa did. We have waged a war against the appointment of Dora and CBU students will not rest until Dora is replaced with someone else."
He wondered how Siliya would perform in the Ministry of Education if she failed in the Ministry of Communications and Transport.
"We are seriously appealing to President Rupiah Banda to look into the matter," Sampa said.
Students at the University of Zambia (UNZA) on Monday said they would not allow the education sector to be used as a dumping ground. The students said they would ensure that Siliya was removed from the education ministry.
Last week, President Banda appointed Siliya a day after her being cleared by High Court judge Phillip Musonda of breaching the Constitution as found by the judge Dennis Chirwa-chaired tribunal.
And COBUSU finance and investments secretary Chisala Mulenga appealed to the Bursaries Committee to be more efficient in attending to students' affairs in the first semester.
Mulenga said up to now some students had even gone on a two weeks break without being paid their meal allowances owing to omissions at the Bursaries Committee.
He said the omissions were a result of the demonstrations that took place at CBU after the institution began its academic calendar this year.
Mulenga said the inefficiencies of the Bursaries Committee were making President Banda and COBUSU unpopular among students.
He said the Bursaries Committee needed to process meal, project and book allowances in time for students who resume classes next week.
Mulenga also urged government to resolve the standoff leading to strikes in the health and education sectors.
He said CBU students had relatives and siblings who were affected by the strikes in the health and education sectors and could not afford to just watch the situation.
"We go to the same clinics where things are not happening," said Mulenga. "Students have brothers and sisters not going to school because the teachers are on strike. Let government sort out the issue of strikes: we are tired of hearing our neighbours crying." The health workers countrywide have been on strike for over a month, demanding better conditions of service. The government and the public service unions signed a 15 per cent salary increment but the health workers had rejected it. The teachers were also on strike but called off their strike after the signing of the agreement. However, pupils in some schools do not learn as some teachers are not working although they report for work.
Labels: CBU, DEMONSTRATION, DORA SILIYA, KENNETH SAMPA
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