Sunday, December 1, 2024

Government Scraps Meal Allowances for Students, Sets Conditions for re-opening of UNZA and CBU

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Higher Education Minister Michael Kaingu
Higher Education Minister Michael Kaingu

Government has announced that it has withdrawn the payment of meal allowances for students at the Copperbelt University and the University of Zambia.

Higher Education Minister Michael Kaingu revealed that the scrapping off of the meal allowances is meant to pave way for the introduction of the Students Loans and Scholarship Scheme in January 2017.

Dr Kaingu who also disclosed that Government intends to re-open UNZA & CBU on or around the 10th of April 2016.

He said Government is withdrawing meal allowances because the facility has been abused and that it has over the years been a source of unrest at the two universities.

Dr Kaingu however emphasised that Government is not introducing anything because it already does not pay meal allowances at other public universities such as Mulungushi and Mukuba Universities.

He also disclosed this in a ministerial statement in Parliament that the reopening of the universities is conditional.

Dr Kaingu said managements must ensure that the Office of the Dean of Students designs programmes aimed at instilling discipline in students thru social dialogue.

Dr Kaingu revealed that part of the conditions include that management should strictly enforce the use of student’s Identity Cards, installation of security cameras among other measures.

He said all students must be made to sign a commitment form to pledge not to indulge in violent protests.

Dr Kaingu also said that the University that will not meet these conditions will not be re-opened.

He further disclosed that all those that were identified and names submitted to the Ministry as the ring leaders of the violent protests should be expelled

Dr Kaingu said the expulsion will include the students, lecturers and the staff, as their actions are inimical to the academic life of the universities.

He said managements at the universities must surcharge all students who are on Government Bursary for damage caused to property, both public and at the universities.

133 COMMENTS

    • This Govt is full of rubbish. Despite all the money they are stealing and borrowing ceaselessly they can’t allocate a little money to atleast the poor starving students? Govt has to find money for especially the orphans and poor students who have no means for survival! Those deserve support.

      And you can not cut funding for loans that will only come in 2017! you cut the meal allowances only when you have graduated to the loan scheme.

      Everyone must know that Bursary is an entitlement by law. it is in the university act and what PF is now doing is illegal and playing with fire.

      How unfair, especially for the poor and destitute students!!

    • What the hell is this ladies and gentlemen! I cant believe this is happening in Zambia. We are truly in the hands of a dictator. Its time to vote PF out baya sana.

    • Why not withdraw fuel allowance for all GRZ officials, housing allowances and any other allowances. See how this will affect their work. It’s criminal to starve a student, a Zambian and whose parents might be paying a lot of money to GRZ in the form of taxes. Cage this fool of a Minister and Vote ‘NO’ for ECL as punishment.

    • Mel allowances are a privilege not a right. stop lying to yourselves. If children start fighting over eggs at breakfast in the house, remove it and give them butter otherwise next they will bring protests ku master bedroom. Well done Kaingu.

    • That is the problem of accessing university education through the back door called aptitude tests. Now we have a govt which is anti-poor, anti-education and on top of that they have inconsistent policies in all spheres of governance.

    • Bwana Kaingu, that is the problem of accessing university education through the back door, called aptitude tests. You have limited understanding and appreciation of public university operations. Now we have a govt which is anti-poor, anti-education and on top of that they have inconsistent policies in all spheres of governance.

    • The BIGGEST ABUSER was LUNGU, always spending the night in Kalingalinga drinking with whores!!

      STUDENTS you have heard for yourselves, VOTE UPND on 11/8/2016!!

      PamaFi want to make sure you WONT have an EDUCATION just like most of PamaFi – organise/mobilise yourselves, go out & campaign, tell, your relatives, friends, marketeers, call-boys etc etc in cities, towns & villages, tell them of how PamaFi has destroyed this wonderful country, whose potential lies ahead of us!

      VOTE UPND 2016!!

      #chagwamustfall 2016!!

      I thank you!!

    • Some people really dull. Do you think meal allowance better than students loan? This move will now inculcate self reliance and maturity in students. Hard lack to those who will be expelled.

  1. PF is just block and has no money to pay the students………would Ejiger have managed to obtain his law degree if there were no BC? i wonder who would have paid for his education

  2. Its a good move. Fellow Zambians you should be researching. Go around the Unis in the world and see if such nonsense as meal allowances are in practice

    • Actually I won a scholarship in the U.S and I was given a meal card that entitled me to free meals, i would just go to the dining hall with my card and get food. Maybe you should do your own research before uttering such comments, plenty of universities have funding programs and scholarships that covers accommodation and meals, especially for the neediest of students.

    • This is what happens when you appoint people with PHDs who have no formal secondary education. I did my post graduate diploma in hydropower development in Norway and I was given an allowance to meet meet my accommodation expenses which had cooking facilities and food. I survived on cheap chicken layers. Cabinet should not have allowed it except that it is full of ba Kaponya although I understand the President is an UNZA alumnus.

    • @Shi Nono Reloaded: What a foo.lish Ar.se you are.
      Wherever you are dont ever think that you represent the whole world????? In Tanzania and Namibia, everything is free including meals and tuition from Primary school to University – are you telling me that they are not part of the world.
      In England and Wales, school meals are free to all students. I work for DoE which pays these amounts as grants. Initially, these grants were only avaibale to poor students but were extended to all students to stop stigmatisation of students from poor families!
      You are just cleaner in a restaurant (not an important boy after all) so you dont really know anything!

    • Sorry, Shi Nono Reloaded…you have just exposed how little travelled you are…but either ways, you have made my day…khikikiki

    • Loans introduced? If they failed to pay meal allowances, will they pay out loans? Meal allowance or loans the bottom line is they are both forms of funding. Only that loans are repayable once the student is employed. It’s highly unlikely there will still be drama even with loans. The need may still fail to access them. This government and generally Zambian govts usually regard Universities as waste bins and would not normally want to throw money into them.

  3. This Govt is full of rubbish. Despite all the money they are stealing and borrowing ceaselessly they can’t allocate a little money to atleast the poor starving students? Govt has to find money for especially the orphans and poor students who have no means for survival! Those deserve support.

    And you can not cut funding for loans that will only come in 2017! you cut the meal allowances only when you have graduated to the loan scheme.

    Everyone must know that Bursary is an entitlement by law. it is in the university act and what PF is now doing is illegal and playing with fire.

    How unfair, especially for the poor and destitute students!

  4. Well done kaingu. this is what we expected you to do. we can continue having property being destroyed by students all in the name of academic freedom

  5. Awe teti hmmmmmn imwe someone is joking. BC a University naimwe ata bane!!! PF out no mealie meal mu shoprite, spar na Pick N pay monse sure

  6. #6 lungu which university act talks of meal allowance? students should know that there are consequences in breaking property. The bit i like is the expulsion of the ring leaders ya this will teach you a lesson

  7. And some cheap political FO0LS wanted to make this issue political when the mighty and able PF government is resolving it. Copper Prices improving on the world market, Lumwana receiving normal power, Itezhi tezhi power commissioned, UNZA and CBU resolved, PF nominations sealed. UPND haters are finished. They thrive on misfortune but we are teaching them lessons in progressive politics.

  8. Only in Zambia. Next you will be demanding to have appointment of headgirl, headboy and campus monitors! Wait,,,, maybe it also happens in North Korea

    • The only problem with PF is they like comparing everything with other nations. Bane cant you do anything differently apart from saying its also happening in China.

  9. The actions of a failed regime. They could not pay meal allowances and knew that students would eventually protest as they could not learn on empty stomachs. Now they have found an excuse to further not be responsible for anything and have in a ‘brutish’ manner decided to victimize those who led a genuine protest. The signing of pledges and other things all have to do with the fear of the ‘unknown’ during elections. No one signs that ‘I shall never protest’. That is a violation of the freedom of expression and assembly. Completely devoid of ideas of running or being involved in educational institutions (in spite of numerous advice) the government decides to take the ‘easy’ way out – repression. Students and staff should use this years elections to galvanize for the end of the PF…

  10. I hope the students will not accept this nonsense from this broke PF Govt. The money is not PF’s and they should not change things from nowhere.

    • Lucy you are right. The best way to prevent protests is just to do the right thing. No one signs these things in countries with well run economies. Governments meet their obligations and where would students find an excuse to protest? I studied at UNZA in the late 90s and at times we could starve for 3 weeks and they will only pay after riots!

  11. This is a very good move by government! This will help the education system inhibit and incorporate good morals among the future leaders. The same students will be the leaders of tomorrow!

    Good move honorable Minister.

    Politics aside!

  12. The requirement for students to pledge not to indulge in violent protests is done at the beginning of every academic year through the Bursaries Committee. Does this Minister really understand UNZA and CBU? On withdrawing allowances, this is the death of university education in Zambia if PF wins in August. The majority of students in UNZA and CBU are from poor rural families but have the best grade 12 results. They depend on these allowances even to buy better clothes for themselves. I foresee a situation where failures who have money will take over the universities while our best brains as a country will roam the streets in frustration.

    • Kambwali – well , ‘poor students’ should learn to uphold good morals if they really know they come from poverty stricken rural families.

    • Majority of students are from poor rural communities? You should have gone to UNZA when UNZA was closed. There were hundreds of cars on campus picking their relatives. Personally I went to pick my young bro and was stuck in traffic for 3 hours. Don’t lie. Majority of students dont come from poor families. My relatives who are students there said so.

    • Comments of insults are synonymous with the riotous behavior by CBU & UNZA students. Offer genuine and mature content than burst in cheap vulgarities. Look here, the chachacha days are gone, destroying property is by no means remedy to one’s concerns. Zambia urgently seeks nation building, therefore allowing individuals at higher institutions of learning to destroy property is a shame. Kaingu’s proposal might come as a blow to those accustomed to bursaries, I can tell you even the USA is not giving BC to students, monthly for that matter.

  13. Good move by PF Govnt!!!PLEASE DONT LISTEN TO CRY BABIES UPND OVER THIS MOVE!!WE ARE TIRED OF THESE STUDENT’S BAD BEHAVIOUR!!LET GOVNT ONLY PAY THEIR TUITION FEES AS THEY PROVIDE FOR THEIR MEALS!!!these students think that once they are admited into unza and cbu,then they get a full time job.if Govnt delays to release meal allowance,its time they break property-shame!!!SO THIS IS A VERY GOOD MOVE BY PF AND PF MUST NOT LISTEN TO UPND!!!UNZA AND CBU IS NOT ZAMBIA!!SO CANNOT LOSE BCOZ OF THESE FEW STUDENTS!!

  14. People are always in a hurry to only look at the side that suits them – especially when they do not bother to ‘research’ on how the two universities have run over the years. It is wrong to destroy innocent peoples property, of course. But have you objectively tried to understand why these problems have gone on for years? Do you know about the numerous reports that have been submitted to successive governments suggesting sustainable changes to how the Universities should be run? (including grants, loans etc.) Failur to implement has been perennial. Even in the developed world, grants have been provided over the years (apart from loans) to cushion the students living expenses. Protest is a right. Even in the UK students have protested over tuition fees and broken a few things.

  15. this is beyond us now, if PF GRZ really mean it, they should dare us by extending the closure to a date beyond august 11

  16. The decision is long overdue though it implies PF will have no votes from UNZA and CBU students. The govt should also move toward having 80 or 90 % of all the students in the universities on self or commercial sponsorship not govt sponsorship, thus the institutions will be financially stable. Imagine today is 9th but this govt hasn’t yet paid salaries for the universities.

    • So what will be the use of having such a Govt? Even before recent events, the situation was bad enough to get the Govt kicked out! You will soon reap Kaingu’s harvest – remember students have families that vote!

  17. Trying to make savings off poor students these empty tins..to cover what they have misappropriated in millions of dollars meant for text books…what a shame..he wants to make everyone suffer after he lost his thatched lounge to fire.

    • Why doesnt a quasi govt company handle this side of business not politicans and the ministry…they will simply not pay on time and it will be now an even bigger problem.

  18. Well done Hon.Minister i agree some students misbehaved ,taking advantage of the situation.With Govt.position ,trust me ,there will be discipline at the two institutions, no violent acts what so ever.Here in the UK Universities are not political grounds and only serious students are admitted.
    Students get loans or apply for scholarship to fund their education.This move should be supported by all Zambians.For your information even the international community will support this initiative.If you come from a poor family you may be considered for financial assistance ,with conditions attached.If you misbehave the grant will be withdrawn.

    Yes we need CCTV Cameras to monitor the activities and this should be implemented soon.Student in Western countries are well disciplined they do extra…

    • I guess you dimwit never saw the riots that happened in the UK over tution fees or South Africa.Move around the world and learn something about how so called civilised societies respond to oppression.I guess you have never read about the Arab spring and how it was started by a student who set himself on fire right? Ati to instill discipline,that is so gay

    • Students in Western Europe England in particular are “disciplined” because students before them years ago fought for them to get the services there are getting today so they could focus on studying from taking on banks to offer 0% overdrafts, transport companies offering discounted travel, Municipal council to omit them from paying council tax…even something as simple as always stocking the ATMs near campus with £5 notes instead of £20 Unions from before had to fire for that.

    • @Ngosa
      I was at Ztrafalgar Square doing a Digital Media cover on the riot for a class presentation. We did not riot at university, but some naughty ones ( arrested and tried), broke windows etc. BUT not cars and innocent people. Further more in that year the gov’t changed funding and to start a lot of us did not get funding in the first year. I was taken to court for halls fees and it took me at least two years to recoup my learning course. I never rioted or broke anyone’s window because gov’t changes cost me. Also all students behaved very well on campus ground. Only sitting on the stairway to main lecture halls enmass semi blocking the access. Our university staff thought it funny and encouraged the peaceful protest. It was not in support of any one party.

  19. Excellent Decision Minister, those who are against the Move you have taken a not civilized Zambians. Since i came to Tanzania i ve never heard of such Nonsense like that of UNZA and CBU. Reason being that them they adopted the system of LOANS. Pay Him cash and he sorts for him self, whether he buys Dagger or Drinks Kachasu is non of their Business. This move needs to supported not only by PF Cadres but also UPND Cadres.

  20. I like this move and i hope it will reduce on riots. I have never benefited from such schemes despite being at Govt institutions. My wife just completed at Mukuba University and such facilities are not there. The way out here are student loans

  21. This is long overdue. We need the students loan to be implemented as soon as possible……. Thanx bwana Minister.

  22. Hon Minister ensure that Universities only admit students who will demonstrate to learn and not cause chaos.Parents,the minister of Religion and two referees SHOULD SIGN the declaration form before any student can be given a loan.A police clearance should be obtained for those eligible for a scholarship .

    The Loan should be obtained through commercial Banks and money will be paid monthly after the production of receipts for those who will receive scholarship

  23. Yes, students need to repay back the money in future and this will instill discipline among them so that we have no time wasters around, yes loans is a good move……………..well done GRZ.

    Nothing for Mahala at least!

    Vote for ECL 2016

    From your friends in Livingstone 2016

  24. This is a good outcome. The gov’t has acknowledged that supplementing meals for students is not as effect as Student Loans. It’s good the universities are to reopen once the universities put the required conditions in place. I hope that takes them until August the 12th!! That way politically motivated troublesome students do not ruined it for proper students hungry to learn.

    It’s dumb for students to damage their Learning environment.

  25. bloggers who were given meal cards when they were on scholarships are right. They were on scholarships. but it doesn’t mean that all other students got a free meal card. The student situation in Zambia is a tricky one. Education is a very expensive service. One that a poor country like Zambia cannot afford. Fee paying university is out of the reach of students from impoverished families. Let us face it the marjority of students at UNZA can ill afford the education. I believe that. Way out of this situation is to give allowances to students who are genuinely poor. Some students can afford the fees but are given bursaries due to corruption or who they know at UNZA. How many foreign students do we have at UNZA? Or are the standards so mediocre that we don’t attract them. In the UK British…

    • Well we’ve got sunshine……!!! That’s worth coming over and paying us overseas fees to increase gov’t collections!

  26. In the UK British citizens pay tuition fees of £9000. But they pay for their accommodation and meals. Hey can get loans.Nothing is free. Foreign students in top universities there pay tuition fees of £15 000 plus. On top of that there is accomdation which is on campus but paid for by the student. Add meals to that and you are talking easily over £30 000 per year. Education is expensive wherever you go but something can be done for the less privileged in Zambia. How would loans work out here when jobs are hard to come by upon completion of studies? How would students pay back? Would loans put more pressure on an ailing economy? Govt should try to cater for the poor. Sadly students take free education for granted hence their attitude of throwing stones at cars and damaging property…

    • @ Professional:
      I think you are truly a “Professional Student” and you know too little which is very, very dangerous because you are actually lying.
      1. It is not true that all British or UK Students pay tuition fees. The fact is that there ARE NO Tuiotion fees in Scotland – Education is FREE from Primary to University
      2. In England, (not UK), the Education Grant was converted into an interest free Loan which is paid directly to the Universities. So practically, the Student doesn’t doresnt even notice difference until they graduate. They only start repaying if and when they get a job and earning at least about £25,000. In Zambia most graduates are unemployed anyway, so what would be the point of a loan scheme??
      3. NOT ALL and in VBERY FEW Universities charge £9,000. I know of some…

    • @chilyata

      Students carry a large debt which they pay throughout their lives alongside mortgage…!!! It’s not easy either way, wherever you are. Study costs.

  27. Good move and well done, infact this is long overdue considering how much damage these students have done and endangering innocent people lives over stupid meal allowances.

  28. Only academic dwarfs and morally bankrupt individuals can applaud Kaingu’s crazy decision. A loan system such as Kaingu and his handlers are trying foist upon students cannot work in Zambia. University education will now become a preserve of the rich.

  29. It’s mostly people who failed to qualify for bursaries and are still bitter that are supporting this decision.

  30. KAINGU TAKWATA MANO. THE ONLY THING THAT MADE A BIT OF SENSE IS:
    “He said managements at the universities must surcharge all students who are on Government Bursary for damage caused to property, both public and at the universities.”
    OTHERWISE EVERYTHING HE SAID IS HUMAN EXCRETE.

  31. Final confirmation of the “tight fiscal space” GRZ is in. Government is broke otherwise they would not risk this move 4 months before an election.

  32. Its not just Kaingu..he vomiting the nonsense from the entire government as agreed with all cabinet inclufing Lungu. This government is the worst that Zambia has ever had. August 11 teach them something.

  33. ..meal allowances source of unrest..??..this is like saying…’Money is the source of evil..’..meanwhile everyone including the so called men of God want the money as much as they can lay their hands on…ala kabili…something which is a source of evil..???….in my opinion its not the meal allowance but the late payment which triggers the unrest….the govt is trying to wave its responsibility and heap it on poor parents….what has happened to PF slogan of more money in your pockets…this will certainly do the opposite to the already struggling parents and guardians….

  34. Its not just Kaingu..he vomiting the nonsense from the entire government as agreed with all cabinet inclufing Lungu. This government is the worst that Zambia has ever had. August 11 teach them something. Ni ndlama za nyoko nyoko?

  35. those who are supporting this move, wait until subsidies on fuel and maize are removed, then you will realize that its the duty of Govt to help its citizen.
    The move is too drastic and harsh, how can we afford when putting three square meals is slowly becoming a pipe dream, guys the road is rough ahead.
    vote wisely 2016.

  36. Well done Kaingu tax payer’s money will be saved, GRZ was wasting money for these good for nothing niggardly intellectuals who cant even fabricate a spoon or a simple needle very un grateful cats. They graduate from the universities you employee them all they have mastered from these higher institutions is stealing and arrogance at places of work.

    • You are very right those unproductive students and at the moment we don’t need him in companies they fail to delivery.

  37. GOOD MOVE BUT THE BEST IS TO SELL SHARES ABOUT 70% FOR BOTH CBU AND UNZA. GIVE LOANS TO PROVINCIAL UNIVERSITIES THIS WILL HELP SHIFT TENSIONS FROM CITIES TO RURAL AREAS.
    ITS JUST HERE IN ZAMBIA WHERE PIPO CRY LIKE BABIES THEY CRY FOR ALMOST FREE FERTILISER,SUBSIDISED FUEL,ELECTRICITY ETC THESE ISSUES HAVE ENSLAVED PIPO THEY HAVE BECOME DRANKEREDS,TOO LAZY ALWAYS LOOKING TO THE GOVT FOR ANYTHING THINGS SHUD CHANGE

  38. Comment: Some of these so called property damaging are done by the police. so cameras welcome so we see the culprits

  39. Don’t mislead people. Apart from the loans there has also been a non-paying back grant system in the UK universities to help with living expenses. It is only now that they are discussing making every payment a loan. Some parts of the UK will still continue with grants that you don’t need to pay back. What about a poor country like Zambia? What will happen to all the intelligent brains that will not afford to be in a University or other institution? Is Zambia ever going to advance anywhere in a situation where education is deemed a luxury? All those who were educated in Kaunda’s free education system will ‘die out’. Zambia will eventually be a nation of illiteracy due to lack of access and poor standards of education.

  40. Hahaha ok am PF but this move just confirms the exit of PF out of power I now believe there are no brains in Cabinet Kaingu is a brainless MMD wanka I now kno its RB advising them coz that guy voted himself out of power Lungu kanshi kapuba

  41. We need human capital to run this
    country. Infrastructure on its own
    without the human capital is not
    enough. You can build another
    UTH or UNZA but without the
    critical manpower relevant in this
    globalized scientific and circular
    economy; you are as vulnerable as
    the poor villager. The key is
    human capital, and the biggest
    beneficiary is the nation not
    fathers or mothers to students who
    will long be gone. Proper
    education is expensive, and it is
    incumbent upon the government
    to spend similar to expenditure on
    infrastructure. Human capital is
    an asset not liability. Please wake
    before you become serious
    underdogs on the African
    subcontinent. Who is benefiting
    from all the scientific theories and
    formulate discovered centuries
    ago?.

  42. Only someone who has never been to university will support scrapping of meal allowances midway through an academic year.

    I deal with students fron CBU who are really vulnerable and are barely surviving and now the life line is withdrawn. Is education going to be a preserve of the few whi can afford it?

    • @john mwewa: Panyo pako! This is about Zambia – not Kenya! They dont have Copper but we have Copper!
      In Kenya, only 25% are NOT unemployed but unemployment in Zambia is at 67%. So how do you expect that system of loans for people who are not in employment to work? You simply have no brains and cant see beyond your nose!
      ID.IOT! Go and live in Kenya and never come back! What are you still doing in Zambia?

  43. So kaingu and Lungu thinks they are sorting out the students, little do they know that not only students will be affected by this move. Parents and relatives who will have to feed themselves and these students in the end millions will be affected. The issue at play here is not just riotous behavior but also a very inefficient government that doesn’t honor it’s obligations on time. Lecturers have also not been paid on time

  44. The grant in the UK is usually divided into three parts. But it doesn’t matter how it is paid. Its what it is for – general living expenses. In all between £5,000 and £6,000 an academic year. Loans cover tuition fees.

  45. Lungu needs advisors, you have to give something not take away. You have taken away so much from the people. Sata gave raises which made civil servants happy also he tried to focus on infrastructure . But you are just chipante pante and worse off following orders from RB. You have to give before you can expect 71% to vote for you. Also Letting your people insults Tongas cuts down your chances of victory. Your strongholds didn’t get you 51 % last time

  46. This is worse than what Chiluba did in 1994 when he reduced the number of university first year entrants citing donor conditionality . I just hope this is not IMF at work already in Zambia.

  47. This is the image of neoliberalism in action. Reduce spending on domestic issues, increase giveaways to transnational corporations, and increase spending for war.

    A revolution is needed to break this cycle. There is nothing coming from the UPND that is any different – no break with the IMF/WB and neoliberal ideology.

    So what happened to democracy? What party do people vote for now?

    • Infintu is NOT personal to HE Lungu! Stop it with the personal nonsense!you just get to vote on which neoliberal you want……hey you get input!!

  48. I m worried @ dis kind of thinkin.Surely how can u scrap an allowance pending an introduction of a loan scheme.Best way wud av bin 2 either continue wif de allowance until 2017 or introduce de scheme immediately.Do u want these young people 2 fail?.Bwana Minister find de money right away or u ar quoting trouble.Your solution is not of a leader but one who …..

  49. Funny but sad! Ever wondered why the educated and powerful in some ‘poor’ countries always look for devious ways of keeping power? They undermine those who match their intellectual capacity, by using those who will be extremely grateful given a paltry stipend. This is exploitation of men by men!

  50. I still oppose reopening the two universities and i have given enough ressons before
    But being a loyal and patriotic citizen i am obliged to respect this well intended move. Especially to weed out the unruly students and lecturers. I hope that this will teach them a lesson or two about discipline. And i hope that state security will keep an ear to the ground looking out for UPND cadres and leaders pretending to be lecturers. But i hope that expelling some students and firing some political lecturer will make everyone to behave they have taken things for granted as if GBM or HH own the universties

    • You are right and no straight person can say anything against the government. Those school were supposed to be reopened after two years and remove bursaries. Students should know that there just students and nothing more. Let them sign that no riots will been done. I like your thinking you are real man.

  51. great actions come with great critics , and much of that critic will be negative. Mr Kaigu’s move is the right one, though he will be dispised for it…..but one day the nation of Zambia will remember him…look at how Mandela handled the white-black situation in his time, and then look at mugabe…..then mugabe was praised for his actions, look at Zimbabwe now, though all just the consequances that cames with his actions…….Mandela was insulted, rebuked and hurted, but with time, people understood..look at south Africa today….. Africa is under developed because every decision in the govts is politicised ,’ as a child, my parents where my worst enemy bcoz of the beatings i receved from them, today, when i look back i smile and appreciate all that they did’ Zambia will remember…

    • Dont worry, this warped and twisted OLD git Kaingu does not even have a G12 Certificate so cant qualify to go to parley!

  52. The current students signed sponsorship agreements with the Government through the Bursaries Committee, and I am sure this covered things such as the Meal Allowance that Kaingu & Lungu are now trying to tamper with. Government cannot unilaterally change the terms of these agreements for the existing students without being in contravention of the contracts with the individual students. One wonders whether Lungu is a real Lawyer who trained at UNZA. To think that this decision is supposed to be a reflection of the combined wisdom of the PF Cabinet makes one want to cry in shame.

  53. This is a result of fiscal indiscipline by the PF government. Where is the money budgeted for meal allowances going? Those who caused the damage are being expelled while punish everyone???

  54. PF are not thinking straight! What about the money you are paying marketeers? K2,000 per person to buy their votes?

  55. What the government has done is the best students you are nothing and you should not think you can control the government. Some of we got education with respect. The best was to remove the bursaries and at the moment we don’t even need human resources because there are no jobs for those useless students who have breaking people’s cars. The move is welcome and if you want don’t vote for PF we will vote for PF. Job well done,

  56. THESE MINISTERS SHOULD START WITH THEMSELVES BY REMOVING ALL THE ALLOWANCES THEY HAVE AND SEE IF THEY WILL SURVIVE

  57. Government is withdrawing meal allowances because the facility has been abused and that it has over the years been a source of unrest at the two universities… Next will it be the lecturers pay to be withdrawn because it too has been a source of unrest at the two universities?! What reasoning is this?

  58. A very good decision by GRZ. Citizens must be treated equally. Many parents ( I included) have their children in other institutions of higher learning and pay full tuition, boarding and lodging and when these children graduate, they contribute to the economy of the country the same way as graduates from UNZA and CBU. Children in private universities are disciplined because they know that their parents are suffering to see them through school while those at UNZA and CBU do not care because it is not their parents spending on them.
    I strongly recommend that even the so-called bursaries be scrapped immediately so that all students and parents get the same treatment and pay for their education. That will mark the end of demonstrations, class boycotts, and damage to campus property as well…

  59. The government is really a disgrace. What it means is that education will only be for the rich…SHAME SHAME!!!! You keep saying that students destroyed property???? maybe at UNZA. But the current protest did not involve violence nor a breakage of property. They only got trash bins which they used to burn ….what property was destroyed??? even the cars within campus were safe.. I Pity this government.

  60. Bufiiiiiiii… It’s a PF gimmick of creating a cheap problem and solve it with a reverse gear by the president… It’s LISTENING GVT they want to use here so that EL emerges victorious as the “Listening president” who reverses even the scrapping off of meal allowances… PF.. Poor Finisher.. Even if this will be reversed, you’ve already offended many people and not only the leaned whose advise on economic issues and technical approach on various issues concerning good governance and prosperity of the country you’ve been ignoring.. Yet now you’ve proved yourselves wrong in your insolent pride by not heeding the warnings…

  61. There’s a saying that an army marches on its stomach. Couldn’t one also say that a university thinks and learns better with a full belly?

  62. Trust a polygamist at your own peril they are generally selfish people. The must be satisfied at the expense of others.

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