Malawi student fee riot

Malawi's economy has not improved under President Muluzi

By Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre

Students in Blantyre fought running battles with riot police on Thursday morning after a protest against a massive hike in university fees turned violent.

Students were demonstrating against a proposed rise of 3,000% in fees.

Scores of angry students from Blantyre Polytechnic, which is part of the University of Malawi, took on riot police following the slow pace of negotiations about the fee increase.

They threw stones, hitting many private cars.

The police were there in force - with guns, batons and tear gas at the ready.

When the students realised they would be over-powered they scattered, with the police in hot pursuit.

Many then vandalised the campus, turning over rubbish bins.

A number of students were detained, but later released.

Education unattainable

In his budget, Finance minister Mathews Chikaonda announced that University fees would be raised from $19 to nearly $580 each semester.

But the students argue that with an average monthly wage in Malawi of $25 most will have no way of raising the money.

They held violent demonstrations, forcing University authorities to set up a panel to look into student concerns.

But the panel has come back to say that it's examined universities in other African countries, and students there pay more and have very tough loan regimes.

It has concluded that students should contribute far more to their education.

Comparisons challenged

But Malawian students have rejected this, saying the countries used as a comparison have much stronger economies.

The Chairman of the Polytechnic Student Union Mathews Mtumbuka said with the new term beginning in just one and a half months students would keep on demonstrating until they got what they wanted.

But the police will be ready for them. An officer told me they have instructions to stay put on campus to check any trouble.