National students leaders have joined the Copperbelt University Students in calling on Republican President Lungu to prevail over the decision by the Ministry of Higher Education to indefinitely close the University.
In a statement released this morning, ZANASU Acting President, Steven Kanyakula, has advised that President Lungu’s administration and the Patriotic Front must not be seen to be bent on punishing students with an indefinite closure of the Copperbelt University.
“The Copperbelt University has approximately of 12,000 students out of which less than 200 students participated in the protest that led to closure of the University and as students, we consider the indefinite closure of the CBU as a decision that does not take into account the plight of the majority students who did not participate in the protests but are now being punished,” said Mr. Kanyakula
The ZANASU Acting President has revealed that students have made several attempts to meet the Republican President to discuss matters affecting students since his Minister of Higher Education, Professor Nkandu Luo, has closed doors to any possible dialogue with lawfully recognised student bodies like ZANASU but alleged the President and other senior government officials are too busy with other national commitments to help resolve the impasse and discuss ways that will prevent reoccurrence of incidences that lead to closure of our public universities and colleges.
“We humbly ask President Lungu to take keen interest in what is happening with the CBU and lend even 20 minutes of his precious time to meeting students and management,” said Mr. Kanyakula
He has said ZANASU shall always encourage students to find peaceful and civilised means of seeking redress to their grievances as opposed to riotous behaviour which leads to breaking of public property.
Mr. Kanyakula has further charged that the ultimatum given by Minister of Higher Education to CBU to put in place security measures before the University can reopen is untenable as public universities are financially struggling and failing to even pay lecturers. ZANASU has wondered where the money will come from for CBU to spend in order to meet the laid down conditions.
President Lungu and his cabinet should re-open CBU so our children can also have a future. It is not good keeping away our children from university just because you yourselves in government have money to send your children abroad or you have already educated your children. Leaders should learn to put themselves in the shoes of the less advantaged members of society and feel with them.
Most tyrants love the sight of people pleading before them. On their knees ati twafwilisheniko twapapata. It feeds their Tinpot egos.
Just open the university and stop standing in people’s progress
Nkandu Luo has told you tim n again ths admin doesn’t care about your vote or that of your families. U guys dont ve ears to listen. Wake up. Lungu won’t meet u at all.
This PF government can’t reopen CBU because they still have no solution to the problems which caused students to riot. As a government they are broke to the bone but swimming in money at personal level. More than half of the money they borrowed ended up in their pockets through ridiculously inflated procurements. On average tuition fees at public universities are in the region of K27,000 year which is equivalent to $2,000. Does Lungu know that the $42 million they spent on one single procurement of useless fire tenders would have covered tuition fees for 21,000 students? DISGUSTING BANDITS!!
My car was stoned and my daughter had a serious deep cut on her lip. We were just coming from Wusakile hospital where i had gone to pick my daughter after being discharged. Unfortunately I had to rush her to the same hospital for another one three days of admission. What did I do to deserve this? What did my 7 year old daughter do to the students of CBU to deserve this?
Mr. President , I am not be your supporter , but please do NOT OPEN CBU. These students must learn to respect other members of the community. Let them go and apply for places at other Universities . Twanaka nabo kuno ku Jambo Drive!!!!!
PF sowing their seeds for their downfall….they forget that these students are connected to a bigger network of voters (their parents and guardians who have invested a lot in their education). Come 2021 its LAZY LUNGU who will be pleading for you …only in Zambia do we plead for these fooooolish leaders like Edgar & Co whose children enjoy education abroad.
Which part of ‘The government is broke’ don’t these kids understand? The dull clueless humble dancer fake leader will be on the CB to come and waste time as usual, follow him ku airport and present your petition although cadres there will surely beat you up. Kaili ba PF fipuba.
Little do they know that its a cost saving measure ….when these students come back again they will be made to pay again. The dull PF leaders that are destroying our country!!
That one shaking hands with the president has had many opportunities to help the government advance the agenda of students in this country. But all he does is sing praise songs. He was even part of the leadership for the dialogue forum. Instead of pushing for bills that will compel the government to take public education serious, he was championing irrelevant bills like coalition government, petition hearing period etc. Youths are their own enemy in this country
You are not Chinese nationals to attract their attention. If you had dollars to invest, they would have met u even from Plot 1
Closure of public universities is a dirty business strategy.Private universities will thrive because of these actions.very sad
PF is creating a country where the Rich are getting richier and poor are getting poorer…so much for pro poor govt of Sata.
Imagine you shouting the loudest to a mother who is deaf, even extent of warning her of danger ahead.
GRZ must privatise these public institutions; they can’t manage running em. Let them concentrate on Chinese money
Our children are just as human as children of Zambian leaders. They deserve a better future just like the children of Zambian leaders. No humans are more superior to others. We are all the same made in the same image of the one God we all pray to. The children of our leaders are not more deserving than our very own children. The attempt to deny our children of the right to education is all happening in our so-called Christian nation that is supposed to recognize the equal dignity of worth of all its citizens, irrespective of their standing in society.
YOU ARE JUST AS INDISCIPLINED AS YOUR CHILD. A GOOD PARENT WILL NOT TOLLERATE SUCH CHILDREN. AFTER ALL AT 18 THEY ARE NO LONGER CHILDREN. KANSHI NIWE WABA TUMPIKA!!!
Zedoc, the issue here has nothing to do with superiority of children. If you yourself have children you will never succumb to the idea of breaking things in the home or of your neighbour’s just because you as the father, has failed to meet their requirements. What ever reason advanced by our children can not be justified. People’s hard earned cars were damaged for no reason of their’s. Our children at these institutions have never paid tax before. Let them ask their parents who pay tax before rioting, I doubt it it if the parents will agree because the parents will have known the consequences. Its terrible. To every action there is a reaction. Yes, its punishment for misbehaving.
The saddest aspect of this whole thing is that some of the parents of these students continue to dance and lift their fists in support of this government. Change needs to begin at the ballot box. Also these clueless parents need their brains rewired
@GMS and Kalaba
I was a student at UNZA. I took part in demos, but never supported stoning of cars of innocent motorists or any form of rioting. I have a child at CBU who lives in a boarding house and a very disciplined student who does not support riots and damage to property. There are majority CBU students who do not engage in such conduct. It is wrong to punish many innocent students and their parents or guardians because of a few ill-behaved students. I feel for the parent whose car was stoned and child was injured in the process. This also sometimes happens at UNZA. The more reason we all have to condemn this and not justify it by any means.
Dude, let’s just say Luo has closed her mind to these cries and none among them do care as well. Wasted efforts to talk to people who won’t listen to anyone except foreign nationals with cash
Nkandu Luo didn’t want to close CBU, it was Lungu who instructed her to close the University. So go ahead and tell Lungu to open it
If those students and their parents voted for Lungu or for Sata, surely they deserve what they are going through. You don’t entrust your life to a questionable character who stole money from a widow and think that you are wise. I hope the lesson that Lungu is imparting to Zambians is sinking in well so that next time people will learn to vote wisely. As you make a bed, so you must lie.
The PF project has been a big lie from inception. People bought into the lie and are paying for it. The sad thing is that innocent people are also paying for it. What a shame.
DO NOT OPEN THIS UNIVERSITY. IF ANYTHING JUST DEMOLISH IT AND USE THE LAND FOR A GRAVE YARD. THESE STUDENTS AND THEIR LECTURERS ARE AN INDISCILPLINED LOT!!!!
How far did you go in education? I bet grade seven. Rioting / protesting has and is an ingredient of university education. Just depends on matter at hand. Like in the 80s students would have demonstrated over ndf resolutions!!!
The students at these public Universities are so pompous, if they have not prepared for the exams, they resort to such type of actions. when the Govt closes ati we will see mu 2021 please I expect students to be intellectuals and do the right thing all the time. This closure has punished so many innocent students and yet only a few participated. Anyway, I will talk to the listening President NEXT YEAR, thanks.
It’s always been the ‘easy’ option to close universities for governments that have failed to resolve issues and implement measures to run a university properly, let alone any educational institution. It also all stems from the fact that when most individuals with power do not appreciate the value nor understand the value of education (amid having enriched themselves through their power positional advantage), nothing meaningful can ever come from trying to inculcate sense into them. It’s not about student behaviour and riots – that is too simplistic. It’s about the underlying issues of educational governance that have not been addressed and resolved for so long. In fact, as a whole (in relation to all other matters of human endeavour) it’s about deciding as a country on how useless…
…. selfish and unthinking persons should never ever be allowed to be in the corriders of power again.
People should not support the indefinite closure of public universities because they have never been to university themselves or do not see themselves being there. Just as they should not support this because they do not see their children going there. It is a form of infantile egotism. People should think more about the greater good of the country than anything else.
Among the presidential press aides since independence, President Lungu’s aide Amos Chanda must rank among the worst. When he speaks either on audio or video or you hear him in person, you can’t help feeling that you are looking at or hearing to a dishonest crook. One shudders to think of the possibility of birds of a feather.
Give student enough studying space,give them WiFi for research,give them their meal allowances on time engage them in a proper dialogue communication,motivate them and see if they will ever demonstrate again..
All the above mentioned can be achieved using the money this government is using to install CCTV cameras… Honestly is it wiser to buy bullet proofs when you can stop war??
Remember that violence is a language of the unheard.