UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema has laid the blame for the current unrest at the University of Zambia (UNZA) at the feet of the Patriotic Front, saying that it is the government’s failure to prioritise national matters such as education that have led to riots
Civil unrest broke out on UNZA’s Great East Road Campus on Wednesday, with students attacking university staff and even setting fire to the chancellor’s office.
Among the students’ concerns is a lack of proper funding for educational grants, which they blame on the government’s fiscal irresponsibility and reckless borrowing.
In a statement published to social media, Mr Hichilema backed the students, writing:
“UNZA’s perennial problems have been left unattended to, for far too long and they won’t go away unless and until the PF systemizes allocation of public resources to core areas such as education of our youth”.
The opposition leader lamented, however, that the PF government lacked the ‘political will’ and competency to prioritise such matters.
He went on to demand that all UNZA students be allowed to write their exams and that the government redirect money from its political campaigns to support the University financially.
HH promised that if the UPND is able to form a government next year, he would reintroduce school meal allowances and expand the bursary opportunities to all students.