Kaingu warns UNZA students

Higher Education Minister Michael Kaingu

Higher Education Minister Michael Kainguu has warned students at the University of Zambia that any further riotous behavior will result in the revocation of bursaries and expulsion from the institution of students found wanting.

Dr Kaingu has told Parliament in a ministerial statement that it is very unfortunate that the privileged few students at UNZA who benefit from the bursary system chose to resort to riotous behavior at the expense of the large population of students who do not have access to the bursary system and have to struggle to pay for their tuition fees.

He says he had a list of students involved in the Monday riot over meal allowances and was ready to revoke their bursaries and expel them, but that in the spirit of reconciliation he has decided to give them a second chance.

Dr. Kaingu says the students union and its members should ask themselves and answer the moral question surrounding their demands and the manner of asking these demands.

He adds that the University of Zambia Students Union has not made a formal request to the Ministry of Higher Education in respect of their wish to have the meal allowances adjusted from K22.50 to K35.00, and that his ministry only came to know of the students’ demands through their riotous behavior.

Dr.Kaingu has since appealed to the students union and the students themselves to stop all acts of public disorder in their efforts to attract attention, but present their concerns through the administrative structures of the university.

He says the ministry of Higher Education will not tolerate any further acts of disruption to the academic and administrative life of the university.

Dr.Kaingu adds that it is the tax paid by the same general public the students target during riots which sustains the bursary system.