TURNING UNZA INTO A POLITICAL BATTLEFIELD IS A SENSELESS AND SELFISH DECISION – Dr Fred M’membe

TURNING UNZA INTO A POLITICAL BATTLEFIELD IS A SENSELESS AND SELFISH DECISION

We note with profound concern and immense disappointment that, in his quest for favorable opinion and praise singing, Mr Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND have decided to turn our universities and colleges into political breeding grounds.

This development is both unfortunate and unacceptable. We therefore, urge Zambians, particularly the academia and the masses at large to take keen interest in what is being done, especially at the University of Zambia (UNZA).

While Mr. Hichilema and the UPND are at liberty to recruit and mobilize the young people for political support, it must never be done in a manner that is destructive, divisive, and detrimental to the integrity and well being of our higher institutions of learning. We say this because we have noticed a very disturbing and retrogressive pattern forming around this issue.

UNZA and indeed all institutions of higher education in this country, must not be reduced to arenas of cheap caderism and partisan politics. It must be recognized that these are spaces for intellectual development, knowledge sharing, research, and the pursuit of national progress, and not political patronage or political influence.

We appeal to the student population at UNZA and elsewhere in the country not to allow themselves to be exploited for temporary gains or cheap handouts. We urge them to be cognizant of the fact that they are the real custodians of Zambia’s future. It is therefore, their duty to ensure that they uphold the dignity, decorum and credibility of these institutions. Otherwise, if they compromise or fail to respect their obligations in this regard, they risk being judged harshly by posterity.

It is also high time Mr. Hichilema and the UPND realized that state interference in student politics risks undermining the credibility and ability of universities to serve their true purpose. History has shown that when political agendas overshadow educational objectives, institutions of higher learning tend to lose focus on their core mandate, which is academic inquiry, student growth and national service.

Further, it’s common knowledge that any government’s heavy-handed involvement in student politics may backfire, thereby generating tension, division and instability within the academic community. Universities and other higher learning institution need be protected from politicization, as their role is to nurture knowledge, innovation and leadership for the nation’s development.

We therefore call upon the UPND to desist from dragging universities and higher learning institutions into partisan politics, and we urge students to safeguard their institutions from being turned into political barracks. This is dangerous and potentially disturbing for students, in relation to the university calendar, and should not be tolerated.

Dr Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party