We haven’t endorsed Mundubile, we’re backing HH – CBU students

COPPERBELT University (CBU) Student Union president Given Chipewo says the students who recently endorsed Tonse Alliance presidential candidate Brian Mundubile at a rally on the Copperbelt are not from the university. And Chipewo says students at the institution would rather have more government sponsorship opportunities than an increase in accommodation allowances. Chipewo’s remarks come after […]

COPPERBELT University (CBU) Student Union president Given Chipewo says the students who recently endorsed Tonse Alliance presidential candidate Brian Mundubile at a rally on the Copperbelt are not from the university.

And Chipewo says students at the institution would rather have more government sponsorship opportunities than an increase in accommodation allowances.

Chipewo’s remarks come after President Hakainde Hichilema increased accommodation allowances for University of Zambia (UNZA) students from K3,900 to K5,850 with immediate effect following a recent meeting with students at State House.

Meanwhile, some Copperbelt University students recently endorsed Mundubile ahead of the August general elections.

But speaking in an interview, Wednesday, Chipewo alleged that the person who was leading the group was a former student who had been expelled from the university for allegedly scamming students of over K200,000 in an accommodation-related scheme.

“The person that endorsed the Tonse alliance is a former student who was expelled for scamming students over K200,000 for accommodation. So he was masquerading as a student, that’s why we never responded to that but as it is and as we have put it out there, students of the Copperbelt University have fully endorsed the candidature of President Hakainde Hichilema and I can assure you that come 13th August, all those who are eligible and have voter cards, so long as they are from CBU, will cast their votes for Hakainde Hichilema,” he said.

He further claimed that the group was paid and given mealie meal to attend the rally, insisting that the majority of CBU students support President Hichilema.

“That was a very small number and moreover, you should take into consideration that those people were being paid and being given mealie meal. As you have seen, when students are endorsing HH, they come out in the open and everyone is there, and from the videos you can even see the multitudes. For us, we’re not being paid. If you’re going to talk about payment, the only payments we have received from the current government are the initiatives they have put across and what they are doing for the country. You know, students are educated people who are able to tell that this person is genuine and this person is not because now the students and youths of Zambia have realised they are not the leaders of tomorrow but the leaders of today, and that is why you see them actively engaged,” he said.

“I am very confident because me being the president and being on the ground, I’ve seen first-hand how students are benefiting from the current regime. We’re talking about 14,000 students at CBU being given meal allowances, receiving accommodation allowances, book allowances, and project allowances from the current government. CDF has been increased and it is having an effect on their families, who can now apply for grants. They’ve been paid meal allowances that they are receiving and some of those allowances are being used to support families back home. We’ve benefited from the free meals that our brothers and sisters back home are benefiting from. They’ve benefited from free education, which has an effect on them because families now have more disposable income to spend on other things. That’s why you see us support, we’ve received good leadership and we want it to continue”.

Regarding the issue of accommodation allowances, Chipewo said CBU students have for years received higher accommodation allowances than their UNZA counterparts and that increasing the allowance would place an additional burden on self-sponsored students.

“All these years, CBU has been receiving higher accommodation allowances than UNZA. We’ve been receiving K4,500 while UNZA has been receiving K3,900. So after the renovations at UNZA, that’s when the accommodation was increased. CBU increasing will mean that it will increase the burden on self-sponsored students, the ones that are not on government sponsorship. So for CBU, what we are aiming for is more government sponsorship, already this year, we were awarded the highest number. We need more for returning students not accommodation allowances,” said Chipewo.

Earlier, former CBU Student Union president Castro Mulilo appealed to President Hichilema to consider increasing accommodation allowances for CBU students due to challenges in accessing accommodation.

“I appeal to the Republican President Hakainde Hichilema to consider increasing accommodation allowance to CBU students just like he did to the UNZA students. Following the already shortage of accommodation on campus and the limited residential houses surrounding CBU that offer boarding house services, I can attest that many students face a major challenge to cater for accommodation fees. The boarding house rent increases every academic year due to high demand caused by the continued over enrolment of first year students annually. A good boarding house with all facilities and near to campus is at K1,500 per month and students get an annual accommodation allowance of K4,500 in instalments which is just for 3 months out of the 10 months of a regular normal academic year at CBU. Consequently, many students drop out , others resort to staying in shanty unsafe compounds as a means of economising the little allowance they get,” said Mulilo.