College of Medicine joins fee hike protest: To boycott classes

As calls for President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika to intervene on the University of Malawi (UNIMA) fee hike saga continues, FaceofMalawi can reveal that College of Medicine (CoM) students have joined the protest.

This has been disclosed in a statement seen by FOM issued by College of Medicine Student Union (CoMSU).

The union has urged all the students not to report for classes once the school opens on August 8, 2016 and the statement has further urged the students not to pay tuition fee until all the misunderstanding against fee hike are resolved.

CoM students argued that reporting for classes on the said date will mean that they will be the first one to pay the new fees hence interfering with the negotiation processes aiming at convincing the University Council to reverse the decision.

The protest against fee hike was started by Chancellor College (CHANCO) students from Zomba and two days later the protest spread to Polytechnic in Blantyre.

On Monday this week, students from Kamuzu College of Nursing both Blantyre and Lilongwe campus joined the protest and over 17 students were arrested by the Police.

Although this is the case, University Council still maintains its stand that it will not revise the fees downward.

Meanwhile Civil Society Organizations and opposition Political Parties have asked President Mutharika to intervene on the fee hike saga.