By REBECCA MUSHOTA and CHRISTINE MWAABA –
UNIVERSITY of Zambia (UNZA) students yesterday blocked part of the Great East Road with burning tyres and pelted stones in protest against the withholding of their results by lecturers.
The lecturers have not released the 2014-2015 examination results for students demanding their accrued benefits.
Meanwhile, UNZA Ridgeway Campus medical students held a peaceful demonstration at the Ministry of Education premises yesterday protesting against unnecessary closures.
At Great East Road Campus, the students blocked part of the road where the institution is situated from about 06:00 hours to 08:30 hours, causing police to divert traffic away from that part of the road.
The protesting students were then disrupted by police who removed them from the road and instructed them to return to their hostels. No one was apprehended.
UNZA Students Union (UNZASU) president Martin Muyuya said from the scene that the students wanted President Edgar Lungu to act on their problem because it was frustrating that the meetings between the Ministry of Education, UNZA management and lecturers did not yield any result.
“We want the President by the end of the day to issue a statement on the matter and order the release of funds owed to the lecturers,” Mr Muyuya said.
UNZA staff are owed K320 million in accrued benefits.
On Tuesday, Education Minister Michael Kaingu announced that Government would release K80 million between now and December to help UNZA clear the accrued benefits.
Mr Muyuya said after the announcement, UNZALARU did not resolve to release the results, a move that upset the students and compelled them to go to the ‘road’.
He said the institution was set to open on October 4, this year and the results were still not out inconveniencing the graduating students who wanted to apply for the jobs advertised in the Zambian defence forces.
By 09:00 calm had returned to the institution and the students went inside the university.
Ridgeway Campus medical students’ school of medicine president Bright Makenzih said the reason for the demonstration at the ministry was to seek audience with Dr Kaingu on what they termed the unnecessary closures at the institution of learning.
The students said the closures tend to affect the academic programmes which take longer than usual to complete.
Mr Makenzih said the re-opening of Ridgway campus, which was scheduled for August 31, 2015 had been suspended to an unknown date because of the lecturers who have not been paid there allowances.
Lusaka Province Commissioner of Police Charity Katanga confirmed in an interview later that no one had been arrested in both incidences.