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Chanco students torch property
By
Denis Mzembe - 20-06-2002 |
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Some students at Chancellor College in Zomba on Sunday last week vandalised and set ablaze property belonging to three students who had given an interview to TV Malawi on the proposed amendment of Section 83 subsection 3 of the Constitution.
In the interview aired on TVM recently, Mzondi Mvula, Emmanuel Chimbalanga and James Kaphale said a majority of students at the college were in support of the amendment meant to allow the president unlimited terms of office.
But the interview did no go down well with the other students who broke into the rooms of the three, removed some of their personal effects, set ablaze beddings and hang their clothes in tree on the campus.
Mvula is UDF chairman of the Chancellor College branch while Kaphale is vice chairman. Chimbalanga is vice chairman of the students' union.
Dean of students at the college Hermes Chidammodzi said the students invaded their colleagues’ rooms during a blackout at the college, making it difficult to identify who was involved. The three, however, were not at the college during the attack.
Fearing reprisals the three only returned to campus between Monday and Tuesday this week.
“They (students) were reacting to what the three said on TV Malawi,” Chidammodzi said.
He blamed the rampaging students, saying being in a democracy, students should tolerate different views.
He also advised media organisations to follow the right procedures before interviewing students at the college to avoid disturbances among the students.
“We don’t know how the choice of people to interview was made by TVM. If the procedure was correctly followed, the incident would have been avoided,” Chidammodzi said.
One of the students at the college said the only wrong thing that the three did was to generalise that the whole college supported the amendment of Section 83 (3) when it is an open secret that a majority of students are against it,” said the student.
Police Commissioner for Eastern Region Titus Thyolamwendo said yesterday that he is aware of the issue “but we are still investigating”. |
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