STUDENTS from the Copperbelt University (CBU) and the University of Zambia (UNZA) have apologised to President Lungu, Minister of Higher Education Michael Kaingu and Zambians for their riotous behaviour and damage of property, which led to the closure of their institutions.
The students have pleaded with Government to reconsider its decision and re-open the two institutions.
Zambia National Students Union (ZANASU) president Humphrey Mwenya said, “We are convinced that the closure of the two institutions was done in the interest of good students and the general public.”
Presenting the letter of apology addressed to Dr Kaingu and copied to President Lungu, Mr Mwenya said the closure has negatively affected students who are in their final year, those on self-sponsorship and those that did not take part in the riots.
Ministry of Higher Education permanent secretary Owen Mugemezulu received the letter on behalf of Dr Kaingu.
Mr Mwenya expressed sadness at the conduct of some students who have been posting derogative remarks against Government on social media.
The ZANASU president called on parents who have children studying at the two universities to counsel the students on good conduct and caution them against acts of violence.
He said as students’ representatives, ZANASU acknowledges the grounds that necessitated the closure of UNZA and CBU.
“Our appeal is to our President and the minister to reconsider the decision; we believe it was hard to make the decision of closing the two institutions,” Mr Mwenya said.
He said the students are remorseful for their actions and are willing to get back to school and concentrate on their studies.
And receiving the letter of apology, Mr Mugemezulu expressed happiness that the students had decided to apologise.
“The misinformation which is out there is that Government closed the two institutions because it does not have enough money to give the students as bursary. We are happy you have accepted your mistakes. I will present the letter of apology to the minister,” he said.
APOLOGIZE? FOR WHAT? THE STUDENTS GRIEVANCES WERE BEING IGNORED AND NOW THEY APOLOGIZE? THIS ZANASU PRESIDENT HAS OBVIOUSLY GOT HIS OWN MOTIVES AND DOES NOT REPRESENT THE STUDENTS.GOVERNMENT IS AT FAULT AND IS THE PARTY THAT NEEDS TO ACT TO RESUME NORMAL OPERATIONS AT UNZA AND CBU. THE PEOPLE STAND WITH THE STUDENTS. THIS IS A COERCED APOLOGY TO ALLOW GOVERNMENT TO SAVE FACE AS THEY SCRAMBLE TO REVERSE COURSE. KAINGU AND LUNGU HAVE FINALLY FELT THE POLITICAL PRESSURE AND ARE USING THIS MWENYA TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE THEY WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG. NO APOLOGY NECESSARY LUNGU SHOULD JUST DO THE RIGHT THING. FIRE KAINGU AND OPEN UNZA AND CBU TO END THIS INJUSTICE!!!!
@Loadist; Why are you screaming? If you want people to read your comments, do away with caps. Those dimwits called students at UNZA and CBU should have thought about their actions. Am all for protests but it should be done peacefully. Why they destroy school infrastructure and peoples’ property? If I where Mr Kaingu, my condition for opening the institutions will be using the same money they get for meal allowances to repair what they destroyed at the campus and repair destroyed personal property. It’s high time those spoilt little brats learned to be responsible!
The RAT he is a PamaFi apologist – sponsored by them, students , you better CLOSE DOWN PamaFi on 11/8/2016!!!
Viva “#CHAGWA MUST FALL!!!!!!”
A sign of maturity on the part of UNZA and CBU students. This is so considering that the riots were organised by UPND cadres that had infiltrated both institutions in the hope by Kadansa Kalusa (HH) that a revolution was going to be brought about from CB to Lusaka. Even after the closure UPND was buying beer for some UNZA students and UPND cadres at Mwambula lodge in Chudleigh in the hope they would re-organise at UNZA and continue with the confusion. I have talked to a very good number of students who have expressed unhappiness at the manner UPND was giving money to some former UNZA students who had either failed or had graduated and not found employment to destabilise UNZA. UNZASU was very much against the riots and need to be commended for their maturity. Only a few bad eggs were for…
loadist, you are an enemy of progress, if you have never been to institution of high learning the i understand your reasoning, which is like bweengwa upnd cadres who behave like there leader hh. Shame on you ba loadist.
Close the damn place for 2 years. it will teach these hooligans to respect education and the law
Hu! loadist you always say you are more intellegent than PF. How do you blame Govt that gave students busaries and paid them more than half of their meal allowace. Good move Mwenya hope students have learned something.PF is different from those who just came to fatten their pockets lungu is working sir.
Government does not give the students bursaries. It is us the tax payers that give the students bursaries. Mwenya was paid handsomely by PF to make this apology so that it will appear as though the students and not the government were at fault.
@KATYETYE your reasoning is rather poor to say the least, it’s like saying it’s not your father who sent you to school but rather his company because it is the owner of the money. No tax payer has control over the money he pays to the govt, so to say it’s not govt’s money is rather absurd. If Mwenya was paid handsomely by the govt then going by your argument then it means it us tax payers who bribed him since our money as tax payers
Ba Peter people like Loadist and Katyetye have a sense self entitlement to intelligence when actually they have very little if any! The students have realised the error of their ways, they have magnanimously apologised, but the enermies of progress don’t like this as their evil plans have again failed.
How can someone shamelessly state that it’s not GRZ which sponsors the students? The government at anytime is an institution of the Zambian people, assembled by the people to act on their behalf. So, Katyetye, your disorientation in this case is obvious since your preferred man is not in state house.
UNZA & CBU students, please take this incident as a lesson, you can protest, but please no property damaging and injuring innocent citizens of this peaceful country.
..comment 2 to 2.3….katyetyez is the only reasonable one and which is telling the truth
PEOPLE LIKE KATYETYE, DO NOT HAVE GRADE 12 CERTIFICATE, JUST LIKE GBM, WILLIAM BANDA, ERNEST LUFUNDA,ETC.
Next time Students want to demonstrate, they should do that at the Ministers Office. They can break all the window and smash all the GRZ cars as long as they are within the Ministry`s confines. Stop damaging innocent people`s property.
Comment: dnt just brag without evidence iwe kolwe which property was damaged nothing was damaged am frm CBU and no report was there about damaged properties aatse
Iwe mwaiche Kondwani Ngwata, I will trace you through hanking your IPS adress and my cousin must claim the damages to his vehicle from you. Crazy CBU hooligan! All citizens hate the inconvinience you cause them you little brats in your violent demonstrations. I graduated from UNZA in 1994 and even during my years their I never participated in violent behaviour. Atase iwee!
Can’t run a revolution. Did you see Kinshasa or entire country? when you lack purposefulness that is the case, we can’t blame you.
In life, learn to choose your battles wisely.
Unza/CBU 0 : 1 PF (GRZ)
@loadist
YOU ARE A SPOILED CHILD.
IF YOUR FATHER IGNORES OR DELAYS TO ATTEND TO YOUR REQUEST FOR A LAPTOP, DO YOU GO ON RAMPAGE, DAMAGING OTHER PEOPLES’ CARS?
Its called the trojan horse. Give Kaingu what he wants to see & then you can pick it up from there.
The punishment is still on whether with an apology letter or not. The GRZ ll surely teach you a lesson. Your childish behavior surely ll be regrettable.
The students were wrong to destroy innocent people’s property, property that probably acquired at great cost and in a very hostile environment that favours only the “connected”. If you young people are the future leaders of this great nation you should demonstrate evidence that you can think properly. You have a grievance with the govt but you take it out on innocent bystanders and damage their property! How insane! Just like the govt of PF! This behavior indicates that you aren’t mature although you are pursuing higher education. You will probably turn out to be exactly like Lungu, armed with a degree from university but unbelievably clueless how to take the country forward.
The behaviour of those student who participated in the animal farm behaviour should not be condened. I therfore suggest that, Govt should not open these 2 institution for atlist the next 8 months. You will have to pay for your mistakes. You cant fight evil with evil.
Let them go and help their parents to apply fertiliser mumabala ba *****
These students are criminals hiding in the name of students.I suggest that companies employing CBU and UNZA graduates should not pay these graduates their salaries for a period of,say,4 years till they recover the damage they caused to public property.That will be a deterrent measure so that these students learn it a hard way.The other thing is that the University of Zambia should be reallocated to a remotest place where there are no roads so that peoples’ property is protected from these criminals.Why should they vent their anger on innocent peoples’ property who have nothing to do with their problems?The same people who are being stoned are the ones who are sustaining them in form of tax payments for their bursaries.
Please, please mr kaingu dont open the two universities now, instead open them next year around June and only on condition that the students first pay for the damaged properties. And those who will refuse to pay dont readmite them period. Let these chaps learn a lession.
u need to wait for upnd to come in power in 2021 tts wen u can b free to destroy pipos property cos they a supporting wat u did reserve yo ritous behaviour for 2021
Thats the way to go, students were off the mark by rioting.
But this Mwenya Chap is PF cadre full stop. Some of these chaps are not at Unza as students but shushus for the ruling party. Why didn’t this Mwenya chap present a request of this nature to the Minister requesting him to pay the students at the time when they were starving? Where was he all the time when the students were complaining?. By the way Kaingu does have money of his own to pay students. It is our money as tax payers.
Finally I do not agree with students behaviour to destroy property but Govt should take a key role in ensuring that they students are paid the money we give them in form of tax.
Comment: well said boss bt I would like to correct u that no property was damaged frm CBU coz no report was there abt such an event and if any property is damaged we students are made to pay wwen coming so that issue of inocent pipo’s property is nothing but a political weapon for the goverment to condem students
The h*****s spent all their monies meant food on buying laptops and phones. Others used it on beers and bitches. Upnd went there to put fire to the delayed funding and they saw an opportunity of taking to streets and started damaging properties so that it looks like govt was at fault. Unfortunately upnd cadres who are not even students were caught in the process. That’s why you will never hear HH talk about opening the unis because he is 100percent+1 guilty of the closure. All you upnd minions here are losers because your party failed to score a point on the closure of the unis. Failed propaganda project. Kikikiki .
How come there is still a president for ZANASU when a few weeks ago I heard on the news that the body had been dissolved pending elections for new office barers.
Aparently the constitution governing the body (ZANASU) gives power to an individual who appeared on national TV and consequently dissolved the board.
So which students is Mr Mwenya speaking for? Just wondering?
Bashi Iris, forget about opening UNZA & CBU for now. Do it for school leavers. The rioting students are not even sorry of their behavior that is why they keep insulting you on social media. These criminals let their sponsors employ them ukucema in’gombe, others as lorry boys. PERIOD. We have to start afresh.
Comment: at the end of the day we are just killing our education reputation its because of this that our universities are not considered as one of the best in Africa if such mind sets continue I wonder where we are going
The people who get bursaries are children of the rich ,whilst children of the poor who are interested in learning are dragged into riots by those who spend the whole year playing and are interested in riots so that exams don’t take place.
The money that is given to students comes from the tax payer and , therefore, the tax payer must have an interest on how the money is used.
We pay tax and sleep hungry: Do we go in the streets to demonstrate? Only fools can support the behaviour of riotous students
@Loadist you think like a pig, ZANASU president is thinking like a mature man whilst you an embecile. You loose nothing buy accepting your mistakes and apoligising, this is how mature pipo behave. You think damaging pipo’s property e bu guy? I will consider your apology and commmunicate to you on the way forward but meanwhile continue drinking kachasu.
Imwe tubaiche akusambililenifye so that you get
tuma certficate twabula ubuyo than wasting your time on stupid things.
Let the students lead the Police to those students who were excited with the protests and were photographed with only ‘bambas” and stones and those that ripped Police gear. Then the Minister should punish them by ensuring that all government students repair the damaged properties. Then they will think twice about taking part in violent protests.
@John Smith,that is my view and I just wonder why in this day and era of advanced technology it is taking the police months to arrest people that were clearly visible in this protest. During UNIP days when information was so hard to come by it never used to take too long to arrest those that the police wanted to interrogate. They could arrest interrogate,make conclusions and recommend to UNZA either suspensions or expulsions but now….
I support students’ right to launch a PEACEFUL protest to air their views; and they should exercise that right without fear or intimidation. Nevertheless I detest the kind of “protest” that results in students damaging other people’s property. On the other hand, I despise government’s failure to own up to its social contract with the students on bursaries by failing to timely pay them the full amount. As a concerned citizen, I can’t sit on the fence and watch this drama un-fold. I therefore urge both sides to rectify their short comings.
@Kaingu you have made my day, Kikikikikiki ati continue drinking kachasu!These useless students imbibe plenty of Kanchina/lutuku!!!
yes twanwa white twamba ukupena.
Students aPOLOgizing??? I can just see then aNINIgizing. Keep them closed until after the er3ctions.
UHGMMM, sad that those serious with learning were adversely affected. The best thing before the school is opened is to put task the thousands affected , let them reveal the few who were in the forefront. GRZ should make sure those few are expelled and banned from even passing through UNZA and CBU
Let them open so that they can vote PF out.
Government should consider infiltrating these institutions of higher learning with intelligence personnel who will be spotting these odious nincompoops so that the punishment will not be invoked even on the innocent.
I blame those who have not passed through cbu or unza coz they busy bragging around they don’t know wat students go through in their course of study
Comment:@Mk
So Think it’s difficult to enter CBU. have been there and I what goes on there. Learn to sacrifice, i did it myself.
@MK what do you go through? In fact the money that you always riot for most of it is spent on beer drinking and prostitutes then you start pestering your parents for more, who doesnt know this? You eat Kapenta ya nkwangwa after you have drunk all the money, be responsible citizens, you can even see the condemnation you have recieved from the cross section of society because of you appauling behaviour.
….this is 2016, PF needs students than students needs them…buying student leaders to win public sympathy
When somebody has done wrong and he apologises,the only good thing to do is to forgive and forget.Iam sure President Edgar Lungu is a good leader who listens and forgives and he will direct Mr. Kaingu to reopen the two institutions.
Did anyone confirm unza students damaged his property?
The students must pay for the damaged property government must not waste money doing the repairing let each student pay k 5000 each for readmission to the universities. The destroying of properties both for government and private is totally unacceptable. For now close it.
@pete so you dont know that private property was destroyed? Do you live in Zambia? Well my car was smashed by your good for nothing stone throwing and gun grabbing students. So are you going to repair it moron?
A thing i will never do is to take my child to these so called institute of higher learning….kuti bakuwisha! a program which runs for 4 years, abaice balepwisha nama 7 years! tebukopo awe…..ni govt
Apologies accepted BUT NO RE-OPENING Until 15 August 2016. The UPND cadres and organizers are still at large. Let’s have peaceful elections then we can look at CBU and UNZA.