The government has begun deducting meal allowances from students at the University of Zambia Great East Road campus by Kr 700 in order to recover funds for damaged infrastructure during recent protests over the removal of fuel and maize subsidies.
And tension is brewing at the great east road campus because students are angered by government decision to deduct money from their bursaries when it was the armed police officers who broke into the dormitories, tear-gassed many students and broke property in the process.
The students are pondering their next move, but those interviewed said they would engage the government through protests again because that was the only language the Patrotic Front (PF) government understood and not dialogue.
Many students interviewed expressed anger at government’s decision to deduct money from their meal allowances because it was not every student who participated in the protests that were done against the removal of subsidies on maze and fuel.
“We are shocked that the government has deducted Kr 700 from our meal allowances. These bursaries are already inadequate but the government has cut them further by that amount in order to recover the money for damaged property. It is not logical and unfair because it is not every student who went to the protests but again, the government can find other ways of resolving such matters. They have not done an investigation to determine who participated in the protest or who broke the property. Ours was a peaceful march, but it was the brutal police who forced their way into the university and damaged many things. Let the PF say if they have failed to manage the affairs of the country,” said fourth year student Maybin Mbwanga.
During the week, acting President and Home Affairs Minister Edgar Lungu said that the government had made a decision to cut student bursaries each time public property was damaged during student protests. He said the government made the decision in order to inculcate a sense of responsibility in the students who were protesting against the rising cost of living in Zambia. But now, the students have vowed that demonstrations would not stop for as long as the government remained adamant against the removal of subsidies.
Another student Mwenya Chileshe said had become clear that the students again would be protesting because the reduced meal allowances would make their stay unbearable at the university. He said the government was wasting Zambia’s meager on by-elections and frequent international trips by the First Lady Dr Christine Kaseba, whose position was not even prescribed in the constitution.
“The government must realize that there is some wrong in whatever they are dong. F all was fine, people across the country could not be complaining against everything they are doing. Here at the university, we are intellectuals and the public relies on our input on many of these matters. This is why we want to engage the government but they are so powerful now to listen to anyone,” he said.
And second year student Sharon Mumba said it was incredible that the government went ahead to deduct their allowances without offering to dialogue over the matter. She said government leaders who made such a decision must have realized that many students would be affected academically because they would spend most of their time fending for survival as a result of reduced government allowances.
“They ministers must also realize that this is tax payer’s money. They are playing with Zambia’s own future. These demonstrations are done in the interest of the nation because the government leaders don’t want to listen to us when we call for dialogue or when the people refuse certain policies and decisions. Those who support extreme government decisions such as this one must realize that Zambia is too big and it belongs to all of us,” she said.
Efforts to get an official statement from the university management failed, but an insider confirmed that students meal allowances have been cut by Kr 700.
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