The Copperbelt University Students’ Union (COBUSU) has appealed to government to take proper actions that will quicken the reopening of the Copperbelt University (CBU).
COBUSU vice president Miselo Mumba said government should find ways of resolving the problem between CBU management and members of staff.
The demands by CBU members of staff to have their Vice Chancellor Naison Ngoma fired and the insistence by government not to fire the management caused the closure of the institution.
Mr. Mumba said the union was only interested in reaching an agreement that will help the school and the ‘warring’ parties.
Meanwhile, Striking Lecturers at the Copperbelt University (CBU) have said they will not resume work under the management of Vice-Chancellor Professor Naison Ngoma and have since challenged Chief Government spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili to fire them if he has powers to do so.
CBUAU Academics Union General Secretary Kawunga Nyirenda said lecturers would not be threatened by Mr Kambwili because they were intellectuals who do not need an election to get a job.
Dr Nyirenda was reacting to Mr Kambwili’s statement that Government would not be blackmailed into firing Professor Ngoma.
“We are not blackmailing any one and Kambwili should know that we are serious people. We are intellectuals who do not need elections to get a job. We are intellectuals and so we do not want mediocrity at CBU.
“We want CBU to be the Centre of Excellence and this is why we do not want the management of Professor Ngoma. We will not leave CBU and we will only resume work after Professor Ngoma’s management is flushed out,” said Dr Nyirenda at a press briefing held at CBU.
Dr Nyirenda alleged that Mr Kambwili was joking when he threatened to fire lecturers and hoped that the minister did not mean his words.
He said if the minister meant his words, then should go ahead and dismiss the lecturers.
Dr Nyirenda said the lecturers were demanding for the resignation or dismissal of Professor Ngoma because he had allegedly failed to manage CBU.
“Even in a team of football, if a team is losing, you change the coach and so even at CBU, we want Professor Ngoma and his team to go,” he said.
Even nurses used to dare government. Ngamwalaba Shani. Just wait for your turn. Ati intellectuals plagiarizing other people’s works
what do you mean by plagiarizing other people’s work. These lecturers were trained at serious Universities among them Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, Michigan and other top Universities in the world and in Africa. The cost of training a nurse cannot be compared to the cost of training a lecturer unto PhD.
Muntu,
Most CBU lecturers are Masters holders with nothing to show and are not original but rely on plagiarizing other peoples works. They need to be fired
Iwe Cobusu, solution how? People are on illegal strike. I hate PF with passion but lecturers can’t be the jury and the judge. Lecturers wake up and fire vice chancellor, just like that. No please. Need for some civility on the side of lecturers
Dr Nyerenda tell us what the management has failed. For the coach you referred to we can tell by not winning. Now in your case in which areas has management failed? If your glass pane is dirty you would think it is your neighbour’s which is dirty
Tell Government to keep kabwili away from this issue he is not making it any better those people he is threatening are just too educated to take nonsense from him.
Before insulting Kambwili let lecturers tell us where management has failed. Suppose management also say they don’t want lecturers. HODs can handle their departments what will help is to employ those who passed through the the same institution and mix with the new one. Meanwhile management should ask lecturers to surrender university materials
Take a visit to CBU and see where money is being spent… Visit some lecturers’ offices, their amenities and lecture rooms. Also try to find out how many actually have offices and computers, how many are squatting in student computer rooms (which incidentally have no computers) and use their own laptops. After that go and see how Naison has barricaded his office, ensured that his home is not affected by the national power deficit. And while you are at it, ask him about the fountain he has built outside CBU premises, and what about the tender for the medical school, how was it “awarded”?
ITS LIKE PF GOVNT ARE SHORTSIGHTED. CAN YOU REMOVE THE UNWANTED VICE CHANCELLOR TAKE HIM SOMEWHERE AND IF YOU CANT THEN KAMBWILI AND NGOMA MUST QUIT.
The logic of getting rid of management is questionable. Where will it end?
Let the so-called intellectuals tell us. My simple understanding tells me that the demand will open a Pandora box and it’s a recipe for chaos in Zambia.
By the way, real intellectuals do not vaunt about their achievements.
While we are at it, what achievements have accrued from CBU lecturers? The last time I checked I found all technology in Zambia was from outside Zambia. Shame!!
Surprisingly this is the same COBUSU that blindly supported the illegal strike at CBU. Their plea for Govt to reach an amicable solution with lecturers stems from a sudden realisation that such strikes tend to hit the welfare of students the majority of whom come from the poorest parents. COBUSU leaders seem to have admired the successful graduation of their colleagues despite the refusal of Lecturers to participate in the 24th Graduation ceremony.
The mentality evolving in minds of striking lecturers is similar to the mind sets of EFF of Julius Malema, the Thaliban in Afghanistan, the Islamic State in Middle East, the Boko Haram and Somali terrorists. This set of people have a one-track minded who cannot accept other views. African Govts must nip this dangerous behaviour in the bud.
Ba Mwansa, I challenge you to find time to sit down with Naison and dialogue on any issue and then see whether you will still have the same thoughts about who is “one-track minded [and] who cannot accept other views”!
The mentality that is currently evolving in the minds of striking lecturers is similar to the mind sets of the EFF of Julius Malema, the Thaliban in Afghanistan, the Islamic State in Middle East, the Boko Haram in Nigeria and Somali terrorists in East Africa. Such set of people have a one-track minded kind of thinking, characters that cannot accept other alternative civilized views. This trend has serious security implications in Africa, Being one-track minded is a cancer that African States must nip in the bud as it infects our youths in this continent.
the issues are CBU have a long history but Govt has been down playing them. they are aware of what the lecturers are saying but they want to pretend as though they do not know the problem. prof ngoma has had wrong priorities in improving life at CBU, he follows his own mind even where they have agreed with his staff on issues, he has been arrogant in certain matters concerning the werfare of his staff. he wants to run the org like a millitary base. in certain insatances accusations of abuse have been at play. most of these issues put together have affected the quality of education at CBU and this is a concern to lecturers some of them have been at CBU for over 20 years and cant stand the fall in quality. ba kambwili threatening them is not an option, these guys have offers already
I think naison ngoma is been used by some ministers who are getting cuts from funds meant for upgrading of CBU infrastructure. CBU is not a military base let this Ngoma resign if he has a clean mind