University of Zambia Lecturers’ and Researchers Union (UNZALARU) members have demanded the immediate resignation of Vice Chancellor Professor Stephen Simukanga together with three other principal officers at the university.
UNZALARU General Secretary Jason Mwanza in a statement released to QFM News says the members resolved during a meeting held yesterday that Professor Simukanga, the Registrar, Dr Kavwanga Yambayamba, the Bursar, Mrs Barbra Sampa Katoyo and the Librarian, Dr Vitalicy Chifwepa should resign on moral grounds.
Mr Mwanza says the resolution was arrived at following revelations that the four principal officers have paid themselves gratuities and pension and have gone further to pay four former principal officers in the same manner namely Dr Wilson Mwenya, Dr Alvert Ngandu, Mr Boniface Chitambala and Mr Hector Chiboola outside the University policy of first in, first out.
He says if the principal officers do not heed to this resolution, UNZALARU members reserve the right to take any action they may deem fit.
Mr Mwanza adds that the union members during the same meeting dismissed the proposed road the Permanent Secretary of Education, noting that government has still not recognized the urgency of resolving the financial challenges facing the University of Zambia.
He says the members resolved that they will administer and mark examinations but may withhold the results if government does not come up with a clear roadmap acceptable to the members on dismantling contractual obligations.
Where are people getting this power to do things outside regulations?
Libala area sold without procedure following,now learned men sharing money without the bleesing of others.
Zambia gone to the worst.
The UNZA Management, Chancellor and his cronies have also gone and bought themselves the latest Landcruisers GX, V8, learning all the dirty tricks of a rotten PF govt
twakulaufwako fye mayo
Kuyabebele Chabe!!
kuya kwisa? naiwe, jealousy!
They have failed to run the institution. They must go
Useless institution with no innovation to show for its continued existence. All these *****s can’t even do any publications in respectable journals apart from plagiarising existing work. Voesek
You are an id.iot! Keep quiet instead of vomiting rubi.sh here!
So the Librarian plays a key role in monetary/budgetary decisions?
I think UNZA needs restructuring!
In many universities the librarian is an officer of the university – one of the top five principal officers. Naturally he/she has to be actively involved in budgetary decisions if the university library has to be well funded. Otherwise the library will not function well. Incidentally, I went to UNZA for a workshop last year and the state of the library was depressing. One cannot agree more with Prof. Jansen, Rector of the University of Free State, when he says most African universities are just shells. UNZA is one one of them.
I totally agree with you when you say UNZA needs restructuring. Serious total transformation of the institution is long overdue.
What do you know about knowledge parameters of librarianship?
I worked for UNZA and I am one of the casualties of non-payment of some arrears in the late 90s because someone wanted a cut. I worked for another organization in a neighboring country that ‘slept’ over paying out some arrears that they were meant to pay workers. This malady of mismanagement is an African disease. That is why they sign up to ICC and then refuse to implement what they signed up for. It is chilling that we are being led even at intellectual institutions in this dastardly manner. I am disgusted, being a victim of that unfortunate behavior.
Its high time the Professor and his cohorts went in oblivion…Kuya-bebele..zwa…go. If you look at the Board where he once chaired the NISIR board, his colleague Professor Frelimo Temlomo.is equally a mess and has run down the institution to a now a white elephant. In fact Dr Mwenya is well known for having spearheaded the downfall of former National Council for Scientific Research to which he bacame the first executive secretary for NSTC, which is simply a pipe line for plundering huge government funds. Let those guys be booted out.
THE PROBLEM IS THAT THERE IS NO VICE CHANCELLOR WHO HAS HAD TIME TO TRULLY AND FULLY ADDRESS PROBLEMS AND STRATEGIC MATTERS AT UNIVERSITY. AS A RESULT UNZA HAS BEEN ON AUTO PILOT AND THEREFORE ACCUMULATED THE BIGGEST DEBT BURDEN TO GOVERNMENT WHEN THE INSTITUTION HAS INFRASTRUCTURE TO MAKE MONEY FOR ITSELF, WITH REDUCED GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY!!!
IT IS TOO MUCH FOR GOVERNMENT TO BEAR. UNZARALU’S DEMANDS BASED ON PERCEIVED CORRUPTION IN THE PAYMENT SYSTEM IS JUST A TIP OF THE BIGGER ICEBERG.
I HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN UNZA AS IT IS NOW ONE OF THE MANY EXAMPLES WHERE AS AFRICANS WE HAVE TOTALLY FAILED TO RUN OUR OWN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. SHAME ON ZAMBIANS AND AFRICANS
USELESS LECTURERS WITHOUT ANY IMPACT ON ZAMBIAS ECONOMY SOLUTIONS EXCEPT FOR THE LIKES OF PROFESSOR JAIN AND OTHERS SHOWING VALUE
I MIGHT AS WELL JUST GOOGLE THE EXAMS AND RESULTS TO PASS THE EXAMS
CERTAIN LECTURERS CANNOT EVEN LIVE UP TO THE TITLE OF PROFESSOR FAILING TO SOLVE EVEN A SIMPLE CRDINATED MICRO/MARCRO ECONOMIC EQUATION TO EXPLAIN CHIKWANDAS SOLUTIONS
YOU ARE A LIABILITY PASSING ON THE SAME MIND SETS TO BRIGHT YOUNG ONES JUST RETIRE AND FRESH ONES WITH PROPER MIND SETS PICK UP
A LECTURER OF ECONOMICS AT THIRD YEAR CANNOT EVEN READ THE BOZ WEBSITE TO EXPLAIN TO STUDENTS WHAT A CRAP
EYE IF ITS ECONOMTRICS NO CORRELATIONS TO REAL HAPPENS SIMPLY…
@Monk squara(sic), I shudder to think you are actually a third year Economics student! Re-read your comment and see how painful it is to the eye! And there you are blasting the Lecturer for failing to ‘read the BOZ website and explain…”.
Unless of course you are telling me that you are the perfect example of a product of useless lecturers…
You are an id.iot! Keep quiet, we don’t need verbal diarrhea here
THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THE DENIAL OF THE PEOPLE. WE ARE CONCERNED WITH TREATING THE SYMPTOMS AND IGNORING THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM. THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THAT WE HAVE A FAILED GOVERNMENT. NOW EVERY GOVERNMENT AND QUASI GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS IS RUNNING WILLEY NILLY. THE TRUTH AND FACTS REMAIN LUNGU AND THE PF HAVE FAILED!!!!!!!!
UNZA being under govt cannot escape the flu when the govt is ill. Human beings are very good at adapting to their environment, especially when they are weaklings. It seems days when we had UNZA spearheading progressive revolutionary ideals are long gone. What a shameful nation we have!
UNZA has never been a stable institution because of people who think big but have no solution to the institution everything is politics. Removing Simukanga will not solve any problem UNZA is a political institution with no solution to Zambia’s problems dream on.
You cant blame government on this. Things started to go bad after KK left as Chancellor. He kept the position because he knew how irresponsible people are. So blaming PF is being unfair when you know that this rot started in the 1990s long before PF was even in liquid form.
I worked with Professor Simukanga at Luanshya smelter in the early 1980’s. I can testify that he has the proclivity of stealing other people’s ideas and reports. Ask him why he was asked by ZCCM Luanshya Division to leave?
Ex-colleagues of the smelter can verify that he was a liability to the team. IS THAT THE ATTRIBUTE HE HAS BEEN INCULCATING IN METALLURGY STUDENTS? No wonder, expats are doing all of the senior metallurgical jobs on the Zambian mines. His graduates are burdened with menial jobs!
Is UNZALARU dealing directly with the GRZ? Does UNZA still have a Council as its governing body? Clearly the UNZA council is in in deep slumber, if it still exists, otherwise those principal officers would not do things with such impunity as if they have no supervisors. Things must be amiss at UNZA.
All being said and done , I think it`s time we settled-down to do business and deliver that which is required by all of us. Prosper our highest learning Institution-UNZA.
V I V A !!!
The same government sponsors 75% on GR Z grants and does not remit to the institution funds for the sponsored students. How do you expect it to survive?
It is not UNZA depending on Government as implied by some members of the public who have no inside information concerning the current long time crises at UNZA but the Government depending on UNZA by sending students on bursaries and not paying their tuition fees. This problem has not started with current Government but has been an on going.
Until this is corrected where Government which has the largest number of students paying for their fees the situation will not improve.
Having said this, I do not support what has happened concerning principal officers.
Another fine example of the consequences when a self-interested questionable inadequate individuals worms their way into positions of power. Wasn’t Lungwangwa also involved in such a scandal sometime back?
Sack the bloody lot of them and take the money back!
If the Taxpayer pays these people their wages then the Government and the UNZA Council MUST have known about this scandal, IF NOT, WHY NOT?
UNZA needs a serious structural review from top to bottom otherwise these problems will never end and the quality of UNZA graduates will continue to deteriorate.
WHY SHOULD WE HAVE SUCH CHARACTERS IN OFFICE BY NOW, POLICE AND ANT CORRUPTION SHOULD DO THEIR JOB. THEY HAVE THE INFORMATION AND LET THEM ACT. PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING AT UNZA NO GRATUITIES FOR FOUR YEARS SHAME…..
Why has government not been collecting monies from graduates who were on GRZ bursaries? A rule should have been in place for every government sponsored student to pay back the money. This can be done by using their student Id No. and NRC No. in form of a tax for a period of time until he finishes the loan. This will help government run the institutions. You can imagine how much money can be collected by the government. No student should be allowed to go work abroad before paying off the loan.
What dumbfounds me is that the so-called vice chancelor and other UNZA management officials are all people who studied abroad for their PhD’s at well organised and excellent infrastractured universities. However, these same people seem to be the most ignorant as if they got their PhDs from Kaputa looking at the manner in which they have managed the institution. They indeed have nothing to be proud of looking at the state of affairs of the university. This is so shameful and uncalled for at our institution and our country. People, when are we going to change? Is it really a curse to be black-skinned? Greedy, ignorance, misappropriation of funds, dirty environment, poor infrastructure, are among some of the elements, which define african leaders. What a shame! Look at him.
@ Chibwe Mwape. They forget everything the instant they land at KKIA!
Why? Simply because GREED has been allowed to become acceptable! And that is their normal mode of operation. These guys would rather spend the grant they get from GRZ on buying expensive cars, furniture for their UNZA homes and paying themselves off, as in this case, and ignore the real reason they receive the funds.
This really makes my blood boil!
Bought themselves latest Landcruisers GX, V8, bought Ford Rangers for Deans in all schools and Deputy Registrars and now paid themselves gratuities without following first-in first-out policy. Other workers have been waiting for 5 years and yet the current Registrar only waited for 9 days! Greedy with impunity!
There you go!
Why are they so extravagant? If you ask me the only people that should have an institutional cars is the VC and Principal Officers. The rest of the cars should be utility vehicles intended for the smooth running of the institution. I bet my last Kwacha they even have car loans as well.
So now we know why they are failing to meet their obligations.