Students Movement Endorses HH, UPND Alliance

The student movement yesterday endorsed UPND Alliance presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema (HH) and running mate Mutale Nalumango.  

Student league president Jerome Nkonjela was quoted as pointing to the high levels of government corruption, which have contributed to the removal of meal allowances, as part of the reasons behind student dissatisfaction with the PF’s performance. The group is represented by more than 10 universities across the country. 

The UPND’s National Chairman Stephen Katuka has confirmed that the UPND Alliance intends to restore the meal allowances. HH, who attended UNZA on a government bursary in his youth, has long been a champion for equal access to education. Among the measures the UPND has said it will take to improve education if elected into office are increasing its share of the national budget, reform of the bursary and student loan system, and the development of education-industry linkages that foster innovation and entrepreneurship.  

President Lungu’s choice of running mate in the upcoming polls could also be a factor in the high levels of support for UPND Alliance among students. Nkandu Luo served as Higher Education Minister between 2016 and 2019, during which time she oversaw the highly controversial end to meal allowances. The move prompted protests at both UNZA and Copperbelt University. In response, Luo banned unionism on university campuses and closed down Copperbelt University – Zambia’s largest public university – for six months.