Leading Malawian academics joined 17 January demonstrations against the government of President Joyce Banda as the relationship between the two sides showed signs of strain, threatening to return the country to the animosity that prevailed between the state and lecturers when the late president Bingu wa Mutharika ruled.
Banda, a women’s rights activist, took over the reins of power following Mutharika’s death in April last year. There were high hopes of a break with a past that had seen academics embark on academic freedom protests for nearly a year.
This month’s peaceful demonstrations were organised by the Consumer Association of Malawi, and were meant to pressure Banda into reversing some of her economic policies, such as the devaluation and floatation of the country’s currency, which has negatively impacted on salaries across professions including that of lecturers.
The protesters were also demanding solutions to the country’s fuel and power crisis, which deepened during the last months of Mutharika’s rule.
The demonstrations came amid rising hardship in Malawi, with the just-released 2012 integrated household survey indicating that 52.2% of the population is surviving on less than a dollar a day and that the number of extremely poor or ultra-poor people who survive on less than 10 cents a day has increased from 22% to 25%.
One leading academic, who was spokesperson for the academic freedom protests, Jessie Kabwila, wrote an opinion piece in the Malawian media explaining that one of the reasons why she was taking part in the demonstrations was the weakening currency.
“As long as the Malawi Kwacha is weakening, commodities will be expensive,” wrote Kabwila, adding later: “We should be careful that what we are calling a boil is actually not the beginning of a cancerous sore."
As a sign of the widening gulf between Banda and lecturers, University of Malawi political scientist Dr Blessings Chinsinga – who was the central figure in the academic protests, after he was questioned by police for telling students that the economic crisis was similar to events that caused revolution in Egypt – has said that Malawi’s current problems have been caused by clueless leadership.
“The country needs new leadership which thinks outside the box,” Chinsinga was quoted as saying by the Nyasa Times.
Meanwhile, earlier this month the African Development Bank said that together with the government it had officially launched the US$29.45 million Malawi Higher Education, Science and Technology (HEST) project.
In a statement it said that HEST aimed to increase access to technical, entrepreneurial and vocational training as well as higher education, with particular emphasis on information and communications technology.
Under the project, the bank will support the government to develop teaching and learning infrastructure in higher education institutions and technical colleges across Malawi.
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