Bunda students sent packing at gun point

Bunda College authorities on Friday had to invite armed police to enforce a one hour ultimatum for students to leave the campus after it was closed following a student’s strike.

The students are demanding the removal of the collage’s principal Moses Kwapata. They accuse him of bad management. He has since denied the allegations.

“The police presence is just to implement the order that was issued that the collage is closed,” said Kwapata.

The Council of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) closed the institution two weeks ago but the students challenged the decision through a court injunction.

But the High Court this week vacated the injunction which has since made college authorities say it was “time to enforce the order to chase the angry students”.

The students, some of who have already left the campus, have expressed dissatisfaction at the approach authorities used in effecting the decision.

“The coming in of the police is terrifying. The police are fully armed and we know that they have a particular motive behind,’ said one of the students.

The embattled Kwapata has however maintained that there is need for the students to leave the campus to allow for the return of order before the dispute is resolved. He did not say when the college will re-open.

Students at the institution were due to sit for examinations mid September.

On the other side the LUANAR council admitted to have failed to solve the impasse saying the volatile situation was preventing investigations in the allegations of poor management by the college chief.