Classes at the Catholic University of Malawi (CUNIMA) are expected to resume on Monday.
The institution was shut down indefinitely last Wednesday following continued threats of demonstrations by students over continued acute shortage of water at the university.
However, despite being served with the injunction the university management, led by the Vice Chancellor Prof Anaclet Phiri, did not obey the order arguing it had no impact as it was obtained after the school had already been closed.
A statement signed by the university’s registrar indicates that all the issues that led to the closure of the college have been addressed.
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Cunima students in protests.– Photo by Nyasa Times
“The students are requested to report at the campus on Monday [Morning] October 29 and classes are expected to resume in the afternoon,” it reads.
The students first went on a peaceful demonstration on 15th September after the campus stayed for over six weeks without running water with management reportedly doing very little to solve the crisis.
The revered students of the higher learning institution had been forced to draw water from the boreholes and a nearby stream to fill cisterns in order to use in their hostel’s toilets.
Nyasa Times also gathered that a number of students had fallen ill and were also failing to concentrate on their studies due to the water situation.
Immediately after the demonstration, the students presented a petition to the Vice Chancellor who never responded forcing them to plan for another demo which was countered before its fruition.
In the process, the Vice Chancellor wrote memos to four students (Lawrence, John, Adrian and Joseph) suspected to be the ring leaders of the demonstrations and asked them to bring their parents/guardians.
In the letters, management also warned the students that they would be dismissed should there be another demonstration at the campus.
But when the said students’ parents/guardians came to the school, management team decided not to report for duties and they (parents/guardians) returned a disappointed lot.
